Stuck Inside My Head
by beatlechicksteph
Summary: Dean is running out of time to get Michael out of his head, and Sam and Cas are getting desperate. When Rowena comes to them with stories of a natural born witch with mind-healing capabilities, the trio hits the road and travels to Boston. Can this woman help them, or will Dean need to spend eternity on the bottom of the ocean?
1. Chapter 1

**New story! My new year's resolution was to edit my original novel, but this fic couldn't get out of my head, and I just had to write it. Updates will be sporadic, since I'm still editing my original novel, but I'm hoping for every week/week and a half. **

Dean stared at himself in the mirror. The pounding inside his head was rhythmic. And it was becoming more and more frequent.

He stared at his eyes, as if he could stare down Michael. He knew it was impossible, but he couldn't help but try. If he could just get the bastard to stop pounding on the door he had him locked behind, everything would work out. He would be able to tolerate his presence for just a little bit longer. But as it stood, he didn't know how much longer until his mind wouldn't be strong enough to hold him in anymore.

He closed his eyes as there was a particularly loud and strong push against his mind. It reverberated across his brain, causing the migraine of all migraines to hit him. He squeezed his eyes against the pain, feeling the tears leaking through the creases and make their way down his cheeks.

If they didn't find a solution to get rid of Michael soon, he didn't think he would be able to last much longer. Which meant the box would be back on the table. And no matter the brave face he put on for his brother and Cas, the persona that didn't mind sacrificing himself for the greater good, he really didn't want to spend eternity on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean with Michael.

HPSPN

Sam threw the book he was reading against the wall. Frustrated wasn't a strong enough word for how he was feeling right now. He looked at the back of the room. The damn Ma'lok Box was sitting there. Taunting him. As if reminding him that if he failed to find a solution to the Michael problem he was going to have to help Dean lock himself in that box and watch as his brother sunk to the bottom of the ocean forever.

"Another dead end?" Cas asked from where he sat with his own pile of books.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Isn't it always? I think our last hope went out with that pearl."

"We can't think like that," Cas said. "It doesn't help us to think negatively about the situation. The answer has to be around here somewhere."

"Does it though?" Sam asked. "Dean says Billie was pretty clear about the end game here. Either Michael breaks through and destroys the world, or Dean spends eternity in that damn box. I think it's becoming increasingly clear the more we research that these are the only options we have for us."

"We don't know that," Cas said. "We're running out of options here, in the bunker. But we have Rowena out there trying to find a solution. And Jack. And your mom. We have feelers to the ground all over the country. We're bound to find the solution eventually. We just need to keep trying."

Sam sighed. "But will we find the solution before it is too late? Dean rarely comes out of his room. And when he does, I don't think he is here, not completely. I think it's starting to become too much for him to have Michael in his head."

Cas frowned. "We need to keep thinking positively. It doesn't help to start giving up now. We'll give up when everyone returns here empty handed."

Sam nodded. "You're right. You're right. But having that fucking box looming there like a specter is not helping me."

Cas looked over at the box. "You're right. Why did you two even bring that inside? You should have left it in the garage."

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think we were even thinking."

The door to the bunker opened and shut, causing the two men to look up at the balcony. The shock of bright red hair announced Rowena's presence before her lilting, "Hello, boys."

"Rowena," Sam greeted. "Please tell me you've found something."

"Oh, Sammy, you are never going to believe what I have found for you. It's a good thing you're already sitting down, because what I'm about to tell you is going to shock you. Where's Dean?"

"In his room," Sam replied.

"Get him out here, he's going to want to hear this," Rowena said.

Cas stood up immediately and rushed down the hall to get Dean from his room.

"Please tell me what you're going to tell us is good news," Sam said quietly.

"Sammy, it's better than that," Rowena said with a smile.

Cas re-entered the room followed closely by Dean, who looked worse for wear. But just hearing Rowena tease good news was enough to give Sam hope that they were close to finding a solution for their problems.

Dean and Cas took their seats at the table, and all three men turned their attention to the red-headed witch.

Rowena took a deep breath, and began. "So, we all know about traditional witches. They gain their powers through nefarious means, a deal with the devil if you will. However, what would you say if I were to tell you that there are witches out there that were born with their powers?"

"Impossible," Dean said.

"We would have heard about them," Sam agreed.

"Wait," Cas said. "I think I remember something about them. The Wizarding community," he said.

"Yes," Rowena said. "You boys wouldn't have heard of them, hell, I had never heard of them until now. They take great care to keep themselves hidden from the rest of the world."

"If they keep themselves hidden, how do you know about them?" Dean asked.

"Well, that's the thing, dear, there are ways to get someone talking. I had heard rumors of this group for a very long time. And then I was out trying to find any leads for someone who could go into Dean's mind, as a long shot, and just rip Michael out. And that's when I met this guy. He's part of the community, and he was drunk as a skunk. And drunk people, they're the easiest to get information from. Didn't even have to work any magic on him. Guy just started spouting out about the hidden magic community."

"And they have something that can help us?" Sam asked.

Rowena nodded. "So, their magic, from what I can tell, is very different than the magic I'm familiar with. They use spells, but they don't need to do rituals or anything to make their magic work. It's all inside of them. And they have a type of mind magic, where the witch can go inside your mind and alter your memories. Now, I don't know if they'll be able to remove Michael, but-"

"It's worth a shot," Dean finished. "Hell, this is the biggest lead we've had since that damn pearl. But how do we find someone to do this magic? They're hidden."

Rowena's smile widened. "Here's the best part. I was able to get out of him that there is a witch who is some sort of well known, specialized mind-healer in the community. She moved to the States from England a couple years ago. In fact, she lives just outside of Boston. I did use my magic a little to get a name, and I'm sure you can use your computer sleuthing to get an address."

Sam reached over and pulled his laptop in front of him. "What's the name?"

"Hermione Granger."

Sam typed on the computer, and just a few minutes later he let out a victory shout. "Hermione Granger. Right here. We have an address."

Dean stood up from the table. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get our shit together and start driving out to Boston."

"Rowena, you joining us?" Sam asked as he started gathering everything he wanted to take with him on their trip back east.

Rowena shook her head. "No, I think I'll sit this one out. But I want to hear about everything. I'm going to go take a much needed break."

Dean turned and looked at Rowena, his eyes shining with emotion. "Thank you, Rowena."

She gave him a small smile. "Don't thank me yet. Wait until this actually works."

"Well, it's still the biggest lead we've had a in a long time, so, thank you."

"You're welcome."

HPSPN

With the three of them taking turns driving, and really pushing some speed laws, they were able to make it into Boston in just over a day. They rolled just past the city limits and found a cheap motel. They felt it was better to get some sleep before they went and greeted the mind healer.

As Dean laid on the bed trying to get some sleep, he couldn't help but try and anticipate what they were going to find once they reached the witch's home.

Hermione was such a strange name. But if the community was hidden from the rest of the world, it would be expected that they would have some strange names.

He closed his eyes and tried to figure out what they could expect when they got there. He tried to think about what she would look like. Rowena said she was an expert in her field, so she was probably older. Maybe his mom's age, maybe older. Rowena also said she practiced magic differently than the witches they were familiar with. He was mostly curious about that. And how she would get inside his mind and get rid of Michael.

His last thoughts before finally drifting off to sleep was, if she couldn't get rid of Michael, maybe she would have something to help him while he spent eternity on the bottom of the ocean.

HPSPN

Dean pulled the Impala up to the curb and killed the engine. The house was not what he had expected. It looked like a quaint little suburban family home. Nothing about it screamed out of the ordinary, and that had him frowning. He thought there would be something creating the illusion of secrecy. This was just so…normal.

He opened the door and listened as Sam and Cas followed suit, but he couldn't tear his eyes off the house. It was single story, and painted white with blue shutters. The bushes out front were well maintained, and the lawn well manicured. He laughed wondering if she did it herself or if she used magic.

The three men worked their way up the walkway to the front door. And then they paused. They really hadn't planned past this point. What do they say? How do they get her to believe them?

Cas reached over and pushed the door bell, and they waited. The door swung open a minute later and Dean frowned. He didn't see anything.

"Who are you?" a little voice asked, and all three men swiveled their attention to a spot not more than three feet off the ground.

"Um, we're here to see your mom?" Sam said, not quite sure if he was even right.

Dean couldn't tear his eyes off the little girl in front of him. Expectations were being smashed all over the place. He was not expecting children to be part of the equation.

"Mummy!" the little girl shouted. "There are some strange men at the door!"

He listened as foot steps approached the door from behind the little girl, and the door opened wider, revealing not the older woman he had been expecting. No, this woman had to be around his age. And she was not bad on the eyes. She held the door with one hand and had a toddler perched on her opposite hip.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her British accent evident. And her suspicions obvious.

"Um," Sam started. "Are you Hermione Granger?"

"Yes," she answered, with hesitation evident in her voice.

"I'm Sam, and this is Dean and Cas, and we were told that you would be able to help us."

"I think you were mistaken," she said, pulling back from the door, getting ready to shut it. "Have a good day."

"We were told that you're an expert in mind magic," Sam tried, just as Hermione was about to shut the door.

She paused. "There's not such thing as magic," she said, with a forced laugh.

"Please," Dean found himself saying as she moved to shut the door again. "Please, you're our only lead, and I'm sorry to put this on you, but my life really depends on your help."

She paused with the door halfway open. Toddler on her hip, young daughter hugging her leg, and she just looked at him. She stared into his eyes for a very long time, and it was making him just a little bit nervous. He'd never been scrutinized so closely, at least not for a long time. After a while she sighed and opened the door a little bit wider.

"Come inside," she said quietly.

"Thank you," Dean said quietly, before stepping across the threshold, Sam and Cas following closely behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean stepped into the living room of the quaint little house, and looked around. The house looked well lived in, and you could tell that there were two small children living there. Toys were strewn about, and drawing were posted on the wall.

He walked over to the wall where there were some pictures, and he did a double take.

"Hey, your pictures are moving," he said over his shoulder.

"Yeah, magical photography," Hermione answered him. "Give me a minute to get the kids settled with an activity and I'll be right back."

Dean nodded and turned back to the wall. Most of the pictures were of the kids. There were several pictures of a man with dark hair and glasses, with his arm around a red-headed woman and their kids, but there didn't seem to be any pictures of Hermione with a man, or the kids with a man. Was the father out of the picture?

"Hey, Dean," Sam said as he approached him. "I don't know about this. I mean, she has kids."

"I know," Dean answered, staring at a picture of the kids laughing and blowing dandelions. "I don't think I feel okay with putting her in Michael's cross hairs. It's too dangerous."

"So, when she comes back, what do we tell her?" Sam asked.

"We just tell her that we're thankful that she was willing to help us, but it's just too dangerous, and thank you for your time," Dean said.

"But what about Michael?" Cas asked from his other side.

"We'll just deal with it. The box is better than leaving these kids without a mom," Dean said.

"But—"

"No, Sam. No. Look at these pictures. Where's the dad?" Dean pointed at the wall.

Sam just shook his head. "I don't know."

"Exactly. We shouldn't have even come here."

"Dean—" Cas started.

Dean opened his mouth to answer him, but was cut off by someone clearing their throat behind them. He turned around and saw Hermione standing there.

"The kids have a snack and their favorite show on the telly. You have approximately ten minutes before they are bored and they come find me, so let's make this quick, shall we?"

"Well," Dean started, "we were just talking, and I think it would be best if we just left. We didn't know about the kids, and we just, don't want to involve you—"

"How did you find me?" Hermione interrupted, crossing her arms across her chest.

"What?" Dean asked.

"How did you know where to find me? No one should know where I am."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look before turning back toward the witch. "Um, we have a friend, who said she found you through a guy she found at a bar. Said he knew your name, and that you were really good with mind magic, and we just looked you up online and found your address," Sam explained.

"Shit," the woman cussed and turned away. "Did your friend tell you what this person looked like?"

Sam shook his head. "No, she didn't. Is it important?"

"Only a handful of people know I'm here, and know I'm back to using my maiden name," Hermione explained. "And they certainly shouldn't be in a bar somewhere telling strangers about me."

Dean frowned. "Are you in danger?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, you said you found my address on the Internet, right?"

Sam nodded.

"Well, I have that going for me, but I don't like that someone knows where I am."

"Look, we're really sorry for bothering you," Dean started again. "And we really don't want to involve you with our problems, but if you're in trouble—"

Hermione shook her head. "Don't worry about it. And you came all this way, and you told me I was your last hope. Why don't you tell me your problem and I can determine for myself whether I want to involve myself in it."

Dean looked at the woman in front of him. She was wearing leggings and an oversized sweater that went down to her thighs, typical mom uniform. Her curly brown hair was pulled up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She looked tired, but that was expected of a mom with two small children, especially a single mom. She was small, almost a foot smaller than him he estimated, but she looked strong. As much as he didn't want to involve her in the Michael situation, her apparent fear that someone knew where she lived was already starting to eat away at him. If they stuck around a little, he could at least make sure she was going to be okay.

"You have to promise that you'll believe what we're about to tell you, because it's going to sound like we're crazy," Dean started.

"Dean—" Sam said from next to him.

Hermione nodded. "If I were to tell you have the stuff I've been through in my life, you would think I were crazy, too."

"Can we sit?" Dean asked. "It's a bit of a long story."

Hermione nodded and gestured to the furniture in the living room. The four of them moved and arranged themselves, Dean found himself sitting across from the witch.

Between he, Sam and Cas, they filled Hermione in on everything. Demons. Angels. The alternate universe, and more importantly Michael. They explained Dean's being the vessel and having been possessed by Michael, and locking Michael away in part of his mind.

"So, that brings us here, to you. We were told you were a mind healer and that you would be able to help us, help me," Dean finished up.

Hermione spent the whole time looking at him intently, like she was trying to get her own read on him. Now, she sat back, and brought her bottom lip between her teeth, and looked like she was deep in thought.

"I don't know if I can help you," she finally said quietly.

"Really?" Dean asked, all his optimism he had found leaving him with that one phrase.

"Really. And it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that, what I do, it's more of going into memories and helping people cope with traumatic events by being able to relive it with them. You're talking about a living creature literally locked away in your mind, and I just don't know if what I do will help with that."

Dean nodded. He understood. She had some skills, and some pretty otherworldly skills at that, but she wasn't sure if they were the right skills.

"Yeah, no, we totally understand," Dean said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. "We're, uh sorry for taking up your morning." He made the stand up, but Michael took that opportunity to make his presence known. The banging in his head made his vision blur and caused him to fall back into the couch, hands gripping either side of his head.

"Dean?" Sam asked concerned, moving toward him, but Hermione was faster, she was next to him in seconds, placing her hands on either side of his head.

She forced his head up and he found himself looking into her golden brown eyes. She reached down and lifted up a stick and set it beside his right temple. "Trust me," she whispered, before she said something in Latin, and then suddenly he could feel her in his mind, except it was different than when Michael was in it, he felt a little bit in control. He could see his memories flying by, and he realized he needed to direct Hermione where to go. So, he tried to conjure up the bar, and the walk in where Michael was, and he could feel her pause. The door to the walk in glowing, the door getting beat so hard from the inside that it looked like it was going to come off its hinges. And then as quickly as they got there, he could feel Hermione slipping out, and then everything was black.

SPNHP

Sam watched as Dean and Hermione sat staring into each others eyes on the couch. He had no idea what was going on, but he had to wonder if this was some of the mind magic that she was doing. After a minute Hermione pulled back, closing her eyes, and Dean slumped over on the couch.

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed moving toward him.

"He's fine," Hermione said. "He'll just be out for a little bit, the whole process can be overwhelming."

"What was that?" Cas asked.

"I went into his mind," Hermione said. "Your brother is a quick learner. He was able to direct me where I needed to go and showed me where he is keeping Michael. After seeing and experiencing it, I wonder if I actually can be of help."

Hermione stood from her spot next to Dean and walked back into the back part of the house. Sam just continued to kneel by Dean. She returned a few minutes later carrying a stack of books.

"I need to tend to the children, and get some work done. Do you two have a hotel?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, just at the edge of town."

"Okay," she said, handing the books over to Sam. "I need you to start going through these books and see if there's anything in there that you think will be able to help me help your brother. I hate handing over research responsibilities, but I don't think I'll have time to start narrowing down the books today. Leave your brother here, you two see if you can narrow down these books, and we'll regroup here later tonight. The children are in bed by 7."

Sam took the books and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, we can do that," he said, looking over at Cas who easily agreed.

"Good," she said. "I don't want you to get too hopeful, though. I'm still not sure I can help, but I'm going to try."

Sam smiled up at her. "Thank you," he said.

"Don't thank me yet," she replied.

"Are you sure it's fine leaving Dean here?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine. He'll be out for a while. And having one of you here is easier to explain to the kids than all three of you. I try to keep my kids out of everything."

"Completely understand," Sam said, standing up and leading Cas to the door. "We'll be back around 7:30, would that give you plenty of time?"

"Yes."

"See you then."

Sam and Cas headed out the door, and climbed into the Impala. As he drove them back to the hotel, he couldn't help but feel optomistic for the first time since he discovered Dean's plan to live eternity at the bottom of the ocean.

SPNHP

Dean groaned and opened his eyes. He looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling for a minute before he remembered where he was. After a minute he remembered Hermione, and Michael, and her going into his mind, and then nothing. He must have passed out.

He rubbed his hands down his face and rolled over to his side and started. Standing in front of his face, incredibly close to the couch was the little boy he had seen Hermione carrying around earlier.

"Hi," Dean said, not quite sure what else to do.

"Who you?" the boy asked, tilting his head.

"I'm Dean. Who are you?"

"I Hugo!" the boy said, a smile on his face.

"It's nice to meet you, Hugo. How old are you?"

"I this many," the boys said, holding up two fingers.

"Wow, you're practically a grown up," Dean said, unable to resist a smile.

"You read me?" Hugo asked.

"Um, what?" Dean asked, sitting up slowly from the couch.

"You read me?" the boy asked again, this time revealing a book in his hand, which he presented to Dean before clambering up onto the couch and then Dean's lap, where he waited expectantly.

Dean smiled and shook his head before lifting the book up reading the title. "The Book with No Pictures," he said.

Hugo leaned into his chest and waited patiently for Dean to begin reading. Dean looked down at the tiny little red head in his lap and felt a warmth fill his chest, and his smile grew until it didn't leave his face. He opened the book and began reading. Laughing right along with the small boy in his lap, thinking that even though every bone in his body told him not to get attached, this was very much something he could get used to.

**Apparently updating sporadically means once a week. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took me so long to update. Everyone got sick and we went on vacation for spring break. But I'm back. I'm having a baby in September, and plan to spend my summer spoiling my oldest before he is no longer an only, so I'm planning to have this fic finished by June! So that's good for all of you! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Hermione walked into the living room, drying her hands on a towel. Rose was coloring at the kitchen table, but she had lost track of Hugo, and she was worried he was bothering Dean. When she rounded into the room, she stopped and observed the sight before her.

She must have not noticed the exact moment Hugo abandoned his art at the table, because Dean was awake on the couch surrounded by probably about a dozen books, and currently reading to Hugo, who was sitting his lap, his head leaned against Dean's chest as he listened.

Hermione felt her breath catch in the back of her throat at the sight of her youngest son so comfortable with a man. He never knew his father. She had to leave when he was just a baby, and she had been in the States working for MACUSA since before he had even reached his first birthday thanks to some strings Harry was able to pull between the governments. But not knowing his father never prevented him from longing for one, even though he seemed to be shy around any men he ended up coming in contact with, unless it was Harry. It was as if he had some instinct from what his early life was like. Rose definitely had some issues around men, which was probably why she hadn't ventured from her spot in the kitchen. So seeing her skittish son so open and comfortable with Dean lifted some of Hermione's hesitations about him. Kids were supposed to have great instincts, right?

She moved further into the room and cleared her throat. The two looked up from the book and smiled at her.

"Mummy!" Hugo exclaimed. "Dean read me lots of books!"

"I can see that," Hermione said, smiling at her excited son. "I'm sorry, I hope he didn't wake you."

Dean shook his head. "I'm almost ninety percent sure I woke up on my own," he replied, his own smile on his face. "But this kid was hovering, so I can't be completely sure."

"I no wake you!" Hugo exclaimed.

Dean laughed. "Okay, I'll believe you. I hope you don't mind that we were hanging out. Did you know this kid is pretty impossible to say no to?"

Hermione laughed. "Yes, I'm aware. He's too cute for his own good. I hope he wasn't bothering you. It looks like you've read a lot of books."

Dean shrugged. "I don't mind, really. Children's books have really improved in the thirty years since I was a kid."

"Well, thank you. I think you occupying him is why I was able to get supper finished so quickly. If you're hungry, we eat in the kitchen."

"What are you serving?" Dean asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Nothing fancy. Tuna casserole and some fresh bread."

Dean smiled, "That sounds delicious."

Hermione turned toward Hugo. "Go wash up."

Hugo hopped down off Dean's lap and rushed to go get cleaned up, as Dean stood from his place on the couch. He gathered the books up into a neat pile and stacked them on the table. While he did so, Hermione took a moment to observe him. He was tall, very tall, but not as tall as his brother. He seemed very fit, and he wore denims, and a t-shirt under an open flannel shirt. When he looked up at her, he was smiling, but it didn't quite reach his green eyes.

"Sweet kid you have," he said walking up to her. "Loves reading."

She smiled. "Yes he is very sweet. I was actually surprised to see him so comfortable with you. He doesn't tend to do well with strangers, particularly men. So it was nice to see him opening up a little bit."

Dean frowned. "Really? Well, I feel honored, then."

Hermione could tell he wanted to ask a million more questions, but was appreciative when he chose not to ask anything else. She didn't want to have to be rude to the man on the first day, when they would probably be working together for a little while to try and get the angel out of his head.

"How's your head?" she asked as they moved toward the kitchen.

"Actually, the best its felt in a while. What did you do in there?"

"Not much," she said. "I was just looking inside your head to see if I could get a feel for what is going on. Good job, by the way, for catching on quickly and leading me in the right direction. I saw the door, and I saw whatever is behind the door banging on it. Is that where you've locked the angel?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, and every time he tries to break down the door, it hurts like hell."

"I can imagine," Hermione replied. "I sent some books with your brother and friend, and they're supposed to be looking through them. They'll be here in a couple hours after I get the children to bed to see what we can do. But I'm feeling pretty optimistic that I'll be able to help you."

"Really?" Dean asked, in disbelief.

"Yeah, I mean, I'll at least try."

"That's more than we can ask for," Dean said sincerely.

They made it into the kitchen, and Hermione moved to the stove to start dishing up plates for dinner. "Rose, sweetheart, please clean up the art from the table and get cleaned up for dinner."

She looked over her shoulder to make sure her four year old followed directions, and caught her daughter staring wearily at Dean, who was moving toward the table.

"Dean, can you come over and help me with dishing up dinner?" she asked, not turning around from where she was working.

She waited while Dean made his way over to her at the counter and then looked over her shoulder again at Rose starting to clean up and then leave to go get washed up.

"Okay," Dean said, after a minute. "I get that we just met, but both your kids being leery around men raises a lot of my red flags. Also, your panic about being found earlier. Are you safe?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.

Hermione stopped dishing up plates and tried to choose her words in order to prevent more questions being asked, but also convey the situation. "We are safe, now."

She looked up to see Dean frowning. "How long since you were last in danger," he asked quietly.

"It's been a couple years," she replied just as quietly. "And please, this is not something I want to share with someone I just met. You're a client and a stranger, so please. Just know that my children are my priority, and we're safe now."

Dean nodded. "I'll accept that. And maybe after this whole Michael thing is solved, we can get dinner and maybe become friends."

She looked up at him, startled. She could see a crooked smile on his face and a familiar twinkle in his eye. The man was flirting with her. She blushed and looked back at what was in front of her. "Yes, we'll see. Let's make sure I don't want to strangle you before we're finished."

Dean let out a loud laugh. "Now you're starting to sound like my brother."

Hermione laughed along with him, and handed him two plates, as they walked together to place dinner on the table, Hermione couldn't help the niggling little voice in the back of her head that kept saying she wouldn't mind being friends with him, or perhaps even more.

SPNHP

Dean finished putting the dishes into the dishwasher and dried his hands before moving into the living room. He had volunteered to do the dishes since she had done all the cooking, while she put the kids to bed.

Dinner was fun, it kind of tugged at Dean's heart to have a family dinner with Hermione and her kids, even if her daughter wouldn't look at him, and he couldn't understand half the things her son was saying. It had a sense of normalcy that Dean had always longed for. Something about the kids' behavior bothered him, though, and he was too damn curious for his own good. He wanted to learn their story, but didn't want to butt in.

He would just have to wait and see if he would be able to finagle a story out of Hermione before they were done with this whole experiment.

Hugo was a funny kid, and he was a little put out when Hermione wouldn't let Dean do bed time. She said it would only rile him up and not help him get to sleep. She said to make himself at home and she would join him once the kids were asleep.

He moved through the living room looking at the pictures again. The moving element must be something to do with magic. The pictures were mostly of the kids at varying ages. He smiled watching the kids growing up on the wall, and moving around and making different faces at the camera. He had to wonder what Hermione did if someone who didn't know magic would do if they came over and saw this wall.

"They don't move if someone isn't aware of the magic," Hermione said from behind him.

"Reading my mind, Glinda?" Dean said, turning around and smiling at her.

She laughed. "No, but it's something that people often ask. My best friend actually questioned whether it was a good idea to have them so prominently displayed in my muggle house in my muggle neighborhood. I told him that I charmed them, so he let it go. And just so you know, I won't read your mind without your permission."

"That's actually good to know, and something I honestly hadn't been concerned about until just now when you answered a question I hadn't even asked."

"If it makes you more comfortable, I can't even read your mind unless we're making direct eye contact. The second you break that contact, the second the connection breaks. And you'll know when I'm in your mind. Unfortunately there isn't anything stealth about this process."

Dean nodded. "Well, your presence wasn't as painful as Michael's, so you have that going for you."

"He looks like you," she said.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when an angel takes over your meat suit and takes it for a ride."

"Angels can just, possess you like that?" she asked, looking decidedly nervous.

"No, they need permission. Demons, they can just possess you."

Hermione folded her hands over her stomach, and looked down.

"Hey," Dean said, realizing that he had sufficiently terrified the woman. "We're going to make sure that you're protected. And the kids. We're not going to leave you open and vulnerable. It's the least we can do since you're being so generous helping us out."

"I've seen inside your mind, Dean. I've seen where Michael is. I've felt his presence, and I just can't let you leave if there's a chance that I can help you."

"Well," Dean said. "That makes you a good person, Hermione, and we appreciate it. I appreciate it. But if things start looking dangerous, then I need you to drop us like we're hot. Because I'm not going to put you and the children's lives in danger."

Hermione nodded. "Deal. I don't want to bring on danger. I'm done with that chapter of my life, no offense."

"None taken," he said.

There was a knock on the front door, and Hermione went to answer it. And Dean took the opportunity to admire her figure as she walked away. And what a fine figure she cut. Curves in the right places. She answered the door and revealed Sam and Cas standing there.

"You found your way back," she greeted. "I thought I was going to be stuck with this one forever."

"Well, just feed him pie and burgers and you're good," Sam said, as they walked into the house.

Hermione turned to him and smiled. "Pie and burgers? No wonder you and Hugo get along so well. Those are his favorite foods as well."

"Well, tomorrow, we'll bring in burgers and pie, can't disappoint my best buddy."

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "My son is going to never want you to leave. You're going to spoil him."

Dean flashed her a smile. "That's goal, Glinda."

She shook her head and turned and faced Sam and Cas. "Any luck?"

Sam and Cas shook their heads as they handed a small stack of books to Hermione. "Nope," Sam said. "These all came up empty."

Hermione sighed, and sat on the couch, setting the books on the table in front of her. Sam and Cas took the chairs, and Dean sat next to her. He turned and looked at her, as she sat and stared into space, he could tell her wheels were turning in her head.

"What are you thinking, Glinda?" Dean asked.

"We need to pull Michael out of your head," she said. "But he has no corporeal body, right? You said he has to possess a body."

"Yeah, no meat suit unless someone lets him in."

"So what do we do with him once we get him out? We can't just put him someone. But we need to tie him to something."

"Yeah, we actually haven't even thought that far," Sam admitted. "We've mostly been thinking of ways to just get him out of Dean's head."

"So, we definitely want him out, yeah? Not strengthening his prison inside of Dean's head?" Hermione clarified.

"Yes, get him the fuck out of my head, that is the goal," Dean said.

"But," Sam piped up, "Maybe if it looks like it's going to take longer than expected to find a solution of what to do with Michael, we can maybe think of strengthening the prison."

Hermione nodded. "Strengthening the prison will be easier, and I think I have some ideas. But, unfortunately, it may take a while to get him out of your head, because we really need to think of what we're going to do with Michael once we extract him."

"How long until you can find a way to tighten the prison?" Cas asked.

"I can do it right now," Hermione said. "Locking him up tighter, in theory, should be as easy as me putting a few charms up and re-enforcing what you have there. And these will be easily reversible once we figure out how to get him out and what we're going to do with him. But I can't guarantee it'll be painless, like I said before there really is no pleasant way to go into people's minds."

"Do it," Dean said, turning to face her. "Put the extra protections."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," he said, no hesitation. "I trust you."

"You don't even know me."

"I know that you're a very generous person to let three strange men into your house, willing to help them. I know that you're a good mom, whose kids love her. I know that you've seen some shit, and your kids have been through shit, but you have come out of it stronger than ever, and I respect that. So I think I know enough about you to trust you to make these intense headaches stop."

Hermione sighed. "Okay, let's give this a try. I need you to make eye contact with me, and don't break it. Remember what I told you about what needs to happen in order for me to make the connection. Try and focus only on where Michael is. I'll find my way there, through your subconscious. And then I'll put some spells on the door."

Dean nodded, and looked into her caramel eyes. "Alright, let's do this."

"Sam and Cas, will you keep an ear out for the children? If they wake, try and keep them out of this room?"

Cas nodded and moved so that he was closer to the hall that lead to the bedroom, while Sam sat exactly where he was, looking on concerned.

"Okay, here we go," Dean heard her whisper a word in Latin and then felt it as she moved into his mind. He tried to only focus on the door, and found it was pretty easy to keep that in the forefront of his mind, as he felt Michael throwing his bodyweight against the door. He could almost see Hermione's presence next to the door of that walk in refrigerator of that imagined bar. She stood outside the door, watching as the light glowed around the edges and the door bowed outward. He heard whispers in his mind, latin words, words he probably would have recognized if he was able to concentrate on anything else, but he dared not move his thoughts away from the matter at hand, for fear that if he thought of anything else, he would fuck everything up.

Suddenly, the door stopped bowing out, and the banging seemed to cease, even though the glow still emanated around the door frame. And as quickly as she had entered, Hermione exited his mind, and he found himself back on the couch, staring into her, now tired, eyes.

"Did it work?" Sam asked anxiously from his spot on the couch.

Hermione nodded. "Well, at least my part did. I was able to get in and place wards around the door. How do you feel?" she asked Dean.

He closed his eyes. For the first time since trapping Michael in his brain, it was…quiet. "I feel amazing. It's quiet in there."

He opened his eyes to see Hermione smiling at him, and he turned to Sam, and saw that he was smiling, too.

"Phase one, complete," Dean said, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. "So, what's next?"

"Well, next we try and see if we can find a solution to removing Michael and what to do with him when he's out. I have a lot of books. It may take a while, but I'm certain we'll find some solution in there," Hermione explained.

"Good. Sam, Cas and I will get out of your hair tonight, but do you mind if we come back here? Help with the research?" Dean asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Not at all. The more people working on this, the better. We'll be able to find the solution quicker. I do have to work during the day, and I have the kids, and I would like to not disturb their schedule too much…"

"Say no more," Dean interrupted. "We'll come by after they're in bed, and that way you guys can go about your business as usual."

"Yeah, that'll work perfectly, and it will be much better for…" she trailed off, but Dean knew how she was going to end that sentence. It would be better for Rose if they were scarce.

The three men stood and walked toward the door, Sam and Cas bidding Hermione goodnight as they walked out to the Impala. Before he walked through the doorway, he turned and quickly wrapped Hermione is a quick hug. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear, and not waiting for a response, he walked out the door, ready to return to the motel and get a good night's rest.

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for all the reviews and well wishes! Onward! **

Dean sighed and set aside yet another book. Going through Hermione's library was becoming just as tedious as going through the bunker's. He was learning a lot of neat things about magic and what this hidden community could do. And it was at the same time really cool, and really scary. He thought the "hidden" world of the monsters they dealt with was crazy. These people seemed to have their own government system and hidden cities. It was bonkers.

He had been at Hermione's for almost a week, and they were no closer to finding a solution to permanently remove Michael from his brain. However, whatever it was that Hermione had done to strengthen his prison had helped a lot. No more pounding in his head.

However, in the last day their manpower had dwindled to just him and Hermione. Sam got a call from their mom saying the hunters needed help on a job, and they insisted Sam was the only person who could help, and Cas decided he needed to check up on how Jack was doing, so the two of them loaded up and headed back toward the bunker, leaving Dean behind to continue his work with Hermione.

After Sam and Cas left, Hermione insisted that Dean check out of the cheap motel and move into her guest room. So he had done that the night before. It was strange being alone in Hermione's house, she was at work and she had taken the kids to daycare, but it was nice to not be stuck inside that grungy motel room anymore.

He stood from the couch carrying the useless book with him back to the shelves Hermione had set up in the guest room/library. He replaced it and started browsing the titles, seeing if anything jumped out at him. He found himself eying a book titled, "The Voldemort Wars: The Complete History." Dean frowned. He knew he wasn't the best at history, but he was sure he would have remembered a war with this name. It must be some war in the magical world. He shrugged and pulled it off the shelf. He had spent a lot of time reading about mind magic and other things that directly related to his problem, maybe taking a little bit of a break and reading about a different topic would help him think more clearly.

He took the book and went back to the couch. He was really starting to love this couch. He opened the cover and saw that the first section was just a list of the main players in the war, with little biographies. He decided to skim through the names, even though being as it was a history book of a culture that wasn't his, the names wouldn't mean anything to him. At least that's what he thought until he hit the second name on the list under the bold headline, "The Golden Trio." There she was. "Hermione Granger. War Heroine. Helped The Chosen One, Harry Potter, vanquish the evil wizard Voldemort despite her blood status. Dubbed the brightest witch of her age, she demonstrated exceptional bravery during the war. From Voldemort's return at the end of her 4th year in 1996 to the final battle at Hogwarts in May 1998, Miss Granger stood beside her best friend (sometimes lover?) Potter, and along with her now fiance, Ron Weasley, they were able to save the Wizarding World from the evil of Voldemort."

Dean frowned. He looked at the dates next to her name. Yeah, that's what he thought. Hermione was the same age as him. She fought in a war and saved the Wizarding World before she even turned 18? Suddenly he was very interested in reading this book. He felt a little bad, like he was invading her privacy, since the book would probably give him answers to his questions, like the father of her children. But it wasn't really his fault. This was a history book, and it was on her shelves. And she had told him to help himself to whatever books were on the shelf, and this book was on the shelf.

He settled in and started reading, and quickly he was dragged into the gripping story of Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived.

SPNHP

Hermione opened the door to her house and ushered the kids in. It had been a long day at work, her caseload getting a little heavier with new mental health regulations for the aurors going into effect. Now she had to screen all the aurors to make sure they were mentally sound to be out in the field. And of course they were approaching the deadline, so everyone who procrastinated to the last minute were flooding her office with evaluation requests. She was exhausted, she had a headache, and she had grand plans of seeing if Dean wanted to bugger off research tonight and after a dinner of takeaway and getting the kids to bed, sitting in front of the telly for some mindless entertainment.

She shut the door behind her and moved into the house as the kids went running to their rooms to play. She set her bag down and moved further in the living room to find Dean completely engrossed in a book.

"Hey," she said, "we're home."

Dean looked up and smiled. "Hey, Glinda, how was work?"

"Exhausting. I hope you aren't opposed to takeaway, because I'm too tired to think about cooking. Plus, I already promised the kids."

Dean laughed. "I'm one hundred percent okay with take away. But you should have called. I could have gotten something for you, or even cooked. Tomorrow, give me a shout. Let me pull my weight around here. I can cook, I can start dinner."

Hermione looked at him in awe, "You're a guest, I can't—"

"I'm an indefinite house guest, and it's only fair that I help out around the house. So, let me handle dinner. Tell me what the kids like to eat, I'm sure I can make something work. That way when you come home after a long day, you have one less thing to worry about, at least while I'm here."

Hermione felt tears spring to her eyes and had to look away. Over the last week she had gotten to know the Winchesters better, and they were amazingly kind and generous men who were always looking out for others. She was infinitely surprised about how well they were at following her wishes to not be around her kids. They very dutifully showed up at her door after bedtime every night, and then leaving at a decent time, to make sure she got plenty of rest for work. She worried when she agreed to let Dean stay with her that things would be more difficult, but here she was surprised, yet again. Looking at the Winchester men, it would be easy to place them in several different stereotypical boxes, however, getting to know them, that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked, leaning forward in concern.

Hermione shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine, just, I'm not used to having someone else around to help out. It's just been me and the kids for a long time."

Dean gave her a sad smile. "Your ex?"

"My ex had outdated ideas on gender roles, and never lifted a finger to help me with anything," she replied.

"Well, he was an ass. Let me help you, and hopefully I won't spoil you and your kids too much before it's time for me to leave."

Hermione laughed, "Well, having dinner ready for when two ravenous children come home every day is definitely going to spoil them, no question about that."

Dean joined her laughter. "Well, I'm sorry then."

"No need to apologize. What were you reading when I walked in?"

Dean held up a book, "The Complete History of the Voldemort Wars, Miss War Heroine."

Hermione shook her head. "That has nothing to do with mind healing or magic, you know."

"Yeah, but I thought a war story would be a nice change of pace. Who knew it featured my favorite witch in a starring role, saving the wizarding world?" Dean teased, with a huge grin on his face.

Hermione blushed. "It was a long time ago, and that author really overplayed my role in it. Made it sound more glamorous than it really was."

"So you weren't one of the Golden Trio who brought down the most evil wizard in history, saving the lives of countless witches and wizards?"

"I was," Hermione said. "But what they left out was the nearly year of sharing a tent with two teenage boys, nearly starving to death because we didn't have enough food for while we were on the run, and the torture, and the watching your friends die in front of you—" she trailed off, shaking her head. "The author romanticized the whole thing and it just upsets me. I don't even know why I still have that rubbish on my shelf."

"I'm sorry," Dean said, quietly. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. I didn't know you were tortured. And if you need to talk to someone, someone who can relate, I'm here."

"You've been tortured?" Hermione asked. "By a monster?"

"The worst kind. I, um, sacrificed myself for my brother several years ago, and my soul was sent to Hell. It, was, um, kinda terrible. So, I know that even though the trauma happened a long time ago, it lingers, and just know that I am here for you."

She opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the pitter patter of running little feet.

"Mummy, we're hungry!" Rose said as she came into the room.

"Yes, let me get on the phone and order some food. Pizza?"

"Pizza!" the kids cheered.

"Excellent, let me go place and order and then maybe we can play a little bit while we wait for it to be delivered."

"Yay!" the kids cheered, again.

Hermione smiled, and looked over at Dean who was looking over at her kids with a small smile on his face. Hermione's smile slipped a little bit. She worried about her kids getting attached to Dean and having to explain his absence when he eventually left, but she never thought about Dean getting attached to her kids.

SPNHP

"You read me?" Hugo asked, running up to Dean carrying a pile of books in his hands.

Dean chuckled and looked over to see Hermione had left the room to order their pizza before looking back at Hugo. "Sure, buddy, what do you have for me today?"

Hugo set the pile of books next to Dean before climbing up into his lap, handing Dean the first book in the pile. As he opened the book he looked over at Rose who was still standing in the entrance to the hall.

"Do you want to come and listen, too?" Dean asked her.

She shook her head, not moving from her spot.

Dean nodded. "That's okay. I'm sure you can hear just fine over there, anyway. Want me to turn the book so you can see the pictures, too?"

Rose looked at him, her gaze scrutinizing him, and he could see so much of Hermione in her. Finally she nodded her head, before sitting on the floor in the doorway to the hall and waited expectantly.

Dean smiled at her and shifted so that he could read and both kids could see the pictures. About three books in, he noticed that Rose was moving closer and closer to him, inch by inch until she was sitting right in front of him on the floor. Hugo was nestled into his chest, listening intently to the story. When the book was over, Dean set it aside and went to pick up another one.

"Daddy never read us stories," Rose spoke up from the floor, very quietly.

"What?" Dean asked, not quite sure he had heard her correctly.

"Daddy never read us stories, only Mummy," Rose said again, a little louder.

"I'm sorry," Dean said, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"Daddy was really mean," Rose continued. "He would get mad at me if I was too loud, or if I asked him to play with me."

Now, that caught Dean's attention. He closed the new book, and set it on his lap. "Rose, did your dad hurt you?"

She shook her head. "Mummy wouldn't let him. He would only hurt Mummy."

Dean clenched his jaw, his nostrils flared with anger. "Is that why you moved? To get away from your dad?"

Rose nodded. "Uncle Harry saved us."

"Is that why you're scared of me? Because you're worried I'll be like your dad?"

Rose nodded. "You're big and strong like him."

Shifting his grip on Hugo so the boy turned and faced him, Dean slipped to the floor, kneeling next to the young girl.

"Rose, I promise you, I will not hurt you, your brother, or your mom, okay? I don't hurt people, I protect them. And as long as I'm under your roof, I will protect you and your family, okay?"

Rose looked up at him, her eyes searching his face, as if she was looking for whether or not Dean was telling the truth. Finally after a minute, Rose stood from the ground and wrapped her arms around Dean's neck, and Dean didn't hesitate to wrap his free arm around her, pulling her tightly against him.

As he knelt there on the floor, arms full of children, he wondered how he would ever be able to leave these kids when it was time for him to go.

**Please review**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the super delay in updates. I caught a cold, that stuck with me for THREE WEEKS, and it kept me up at night, so I've felt like I've been walking around in a fog. I'm finally better, and I was able to get this out! Thanks for your patience!**

Hermione walked back into the living room, wrapping her hair in a towel to deal with later. She had ordered the pizza and then decided to take advantage of having another adult in the house and taking a shower. It ended up being a good decision because she felt so much more relaxed after the day she had and now she was in sweats and a loose long sleeve shirt, and just felt human again. She felt she could interact with Dean and the kids over dinner and not want to explode.

As soon as she walked into the living room, she stopped in her tracks. Both her kids were sitting on the couch next to Dean while he read to them. Both of them. Rose even had her head on his shoulder as she looked at the pictures in the book. Hermione couldn't believe it.

"Hello everyone," she said, making her presence known.

All three heads turned and looked her way, giving her a smile.

"Mummy!" the kids both shouted at the same time.

"Pizza, mummy?" Hugo asked, from his place on Dean's lap.

"Any minute," she answered. She looked at Dean. "Hope you don't mind, but I took advantage of the free babysitting and grabbed a quick shower."

Dean shook his head. "I don't mind at all. Like I said, I'm here, you should utilize me. I owe you a lot, just for making those headaches go away."

Hermione smiled at him, and shook her head. After Ron, she had basically given up on romance or finding someone. After all, she was as single mum, with two small children, essentially in hiding, and neither of those things particularly lent themselves to a thriving romantic life.

However, tall, dark and handsome just happened to knock on her door, was good with her kids, and wanted to help out around her house, and she was already jumping to thoughts about dating him. Which was ridiculous. As soon as she helped him get that angel out of his head, he would go back to Kansas and back to his life, leaving them behind. She just hoped her children could recover from losing him.

"Kids, why don't you go get washed up for dinner, give Dean a break from stories for a little bit."

"Can he do our bedtime stories?" Rose asked. "He is really good. He does all the voices, just like you, Mummy!"

Hermione smiled. "We'll see. I'm worried that if he reads you stories, you're going to procrastinate bedtime."

"We won't!" Rose said. "I promise."

"Like I said, we'll see. Now go wash up, pizza will be here any minute."

The kids hopped off the couch and raced toward the bathroom.

"Thank you again," Hermione said, as soon as she and Dean were alone.

Dean worked on stacking the books up in a neat pile. "Don't worry about it. I've said it before, I like your kids."

"I'm really surprised to see Rose with you. She doesn't normally…" she trailed off, pretty sure Dean knew where she was going with it.

"Yeah, she started across the room, and moved closer with each story. She, um, she told me about her dad."

Hermione stiffened. "She did, did she? And what exactly did she say? She was quite young when we left."

"That he was mean, but mostly he was mean to you."

Hermione cleared her throat and looked away, blinking the tears from her eyes. "Yes, well, that is a very accurate description of the events."

She heard Dean sigh. "What I don't understand is what made you stay with him so long? He's the guy from the book right? It said you two were engaged from a very young age. If he was abusive, then why did you stay so long? Rose said her uncle helped you guys get away, but I'm just trying to understand how someone so strong and badass as you couldn't find a way out sooner?"

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "It's complicated."

"Well, uncomplicate it."

"I don't owe you anything. I don't need to explain my past to you. I barely know you," she spat out.

"You're right, but in the last week, I've come to care for you, and I've come to care for those kids. And based on your reaction when we found you, you're still hiding from this asshole, and if I'm going to be staying with you, I need to know if I should kick his ass or gank him if he shows up at this door."

Hermione sighed. "You're right. I owe you at least a little explanation, but it's not your place to judge me, because you don't know the whole story."

"You're right, I don't, but I'm asking you to tell me," Dean said, softly this time.

Hermione took her bottom lip between her teeth and looked at Dean, really looked at him. He was sat looking up at her with his expressive green eyes, and he was right. The amount of time they've spent together for the last week, he no longer qualified as a stranger. And didn't she just say that she was starting to care for him as well?

"Fine," she said. "But not now. After the kids go to bed. They don't know the whole story, and I want to keep it that way."

Dean nodded. "Deal."

SPNHP

Dean finished packing up the last left over pizza into bags and placed them into the refrigerator. Hermione had nixed him helping with bedtime. The kids were wired, and bouncing off the walls, and that was before they learned he was going to be staying in their guest room for a while. She told them that once the newness of his presence had worn off, she would allow him to read them bedtime stories. She was just concerned that him reading the stories would just keep the kids wired and they wouldn't settle down and go to sleep. And even though he would have loved to help out with the bedtime routine, but he didn't want to overstep.

The year he lived with Lisa and Ben had been one of the best years of his life, minus the whole his brother locked in the cage thing. Yes, he missed his hunting life, but he loved having a stable domestic life. He wished that Lisa would have been okay with the hunting life, and that being with him didn't endanger their lives, but having a stable home life was something that he had always longed for.

And he was trying to not get attached to this family. But, Hermione was so beautiful and nice, and he loved the kids already. And perk: Hermione could hold her own, and she probably wouldn't make him give up the life. Maybe. But he really was getting ahead of himself. Because he didn't know how she felt about him, and if they couldn't figure out how to get Michael out of his head, he was going to spend eternity at the bottom of the ocean, so none of this would matter anyway.

Hermione was exiting the kids' rooms when he entered the living room and she gave him a smile.

"Welcome to my chaos of have two small children," she said.

Dean laughed. "I like it. It's nice. They're funny."

Hermione shook her head. "You keep encouraging them with laughing at their antics, and they will continue to try and impress you with acting sillier and sillier."

Dean smiled. "I'll try to be better at keeping a straight face."

"You do that," Hermione said, giving him a smile of her own.

Dean moved to sit on the couch, and was not surprised when Hermione sat down next to him. She had taken to sitting next to him on the couch while they read.

She turned so that she was facing him, and he did the same. She looked nervous, and he was starting to feel bad about pressuring her to tell her story. But then little Rose's face when she told him about how her dad was mean to her and her mother would flash through his mind, and he was determined to find out what exactly happened.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Ron was my first real love. We had been friends since we were eleven, and during our sixth year at Hogwarts, I was absolutely in love with him. After our year on the run, and when the war ended, the feeling was mutual, and we fancied ourselves in love. Things moved quickly. We were engaged nearly right away, and were married shortly after that. Before I had even entered back in Hogwarts to finish out my education, and before Ron went away to train to be an auror. I went to school and I started wondering if maybe we didn't rush into things a bit. But shook those feelings off.

"School ended, and I went back home. Ron had given up being an auror in order to help his brother with his joke shop, and I went on to get my mastery in mind healing. I started my job at the wizarding hospital, and this is when things get a bit fuzzy. I knew I was having some doubts about my life choices, and maybe I shouldn't be married. However, these thoughts never stayed in my mind for long. And then after a few years of advancing my career, I found myself pregnant with Rose.

"During my pregnancy, things in my head started to become less fuzzy, and all my reasons for wanting to leave Ron. Just as I started unraveling why I had stuck around, and how I became pregnant even though I was being very diligent with my potions, Rose was born and things grew fuzzy again. When I became pregnant with Hugo, things cleared up, and that is when I made the connection. Ron was drugging me. I remember being very pregnant with Hugo, and confronting Ron about it, and he didn't even deny it, said I wouldn't even remember it anyway. He said several hurtful things, and even raised his hand to me when I talked back. That's when I had enough. Especially since he did it all in front of Rose. I packed us up and we went to Harry's.

"Harry helped when Hugo was born, and he and my boss found me my position here. The children and I moved before my divorce was finalized. I live under my maiden name now, but we lived under a pseudonym for about a year. So when you came here, looking for me by name, I had this sense of panic that Ron had found us, and he was going to drag us home. Because not all evil comes in the shape of monsters, sometimes evil can look like someone you love the most in the world."

Dean could feel his blood pressure rising with each detail Hermione gave him. "I'm gonna kill him," he said when she was finished. "I'm going to take my gun and just put one between his eyes."

Hermione shook her head, reaching out and taking his hand in hers. "It's not worth it. It's all over and done with, and the chances of him even finding me here are very slim."

Dean shook his head. "What kind of man drugs a woman to stay with him? That's sick. I'm so glad that you were able to get yourself and the kids out of there. Although I'm starting to feel a little bit worried about some random person being able to point us in your direction."

Hermione shrugged. "I'm a very well known witch, and I've been very beneficial to the magical community here in the US with my research. So I'm not so worried about that. I haven't heard from Ron or my in-laws since we moved here, so I'm really secure in knowing he won't find us."

Dean turned his hand in hers so that he could lace their fingers together. "Well, if he does find you, you call me, and I'll track you guys down and end him."

Hermione gave him a smile. "You're sweet, and the sentiment is very welcome, but all you've done just now is remind me that you're eventually going to leave, and that makes me sad. Which is crazy, right? To feel this way when we've barely known each other?"

Dean shook his head. "No, I don't think so, because I feel the same way whenever I think about you solving my problem, and I have to leave you and the kids. Because, shit, I have fallen in love with your kids, they're amazing. And I—" Dean stopped. He didn't want to say he loved her too, because he didn't. He was attracted to her, yes, but it wasn't love. "I am growing very fond of you as well," he finished.

Hermione smiled at him. Fuck, he loved her smile. "Yes, well, I'm growing fond of you as well, but—"

"But I'm not a permanent fixture in your life," Dean finished for her. "Yeah, my semi-transient lifestyle leaves very little that is appealing for a romantic relationship."

"And it's not just that," Hermione said. "You have to understand, after Ron..."

"Understandable. Let's just, table these feelings for now? Try to work around them, and focus on solving this angel problem."

Hermione smiled, "Yeah, let's do that," she said, squeezing his hand.

"So," Dean said, after a moment. "I had a question after reading that book. That Voldemort guy created these things that kept him alive after he had supposedly died, and you and your friends went and destroyed them. So, how exactly do those things work?"

Hermione's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "Dean, you brilliant, brilliant man."

And before he could realize what was happening, Hermione closed the gap between them, planted a a kiss on his mouth, and before he could react to anything that was happening, flew off the couch and ran off toward her library.

**Please Review**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back! Enjoy the chapter!**

"Okay," Sam was saying through the computer. "So, explain to me again. We're making a horcrux?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not exactly. Making a horcrux uses really dark magic, and involves killing someone and putting a piece of your soul into an object, ensuring your immortality. What we're thinking about doing is similar. I'm thinking there has to be a way to pull Michael out of Dean's mind and lock him in an object."

Sam shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "While I don't doubt you'll be able to do the remove him from the mind part, I don't know if you'll be able to tie him to an object. He's an archangel. They're pretty damn strong."

"The box," Dean spoke up. "We can get him in the box, and trap him in there, drop him to the bottom of the ocean."

"Like just him, not attached to anything?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Dean said. "Hermione can pull him out, and you and Cas can be ready to shut him in when she tells you to."

The group fell into silence while they contemplated this idea.

"I mean it can work," Sam said. "If you think you can pull Michael out of Dean's head that is."

Hermione shrugged. "It's all working theory right now, but I really do think I can. I just need to double check a few things, but I'm pretty sure I can."

"Okay, then let's try it. When do you need Cas and I to come back?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a week? That should be enough time to do the research and double check that research to make sure I have everything correct."

"Why don't we come to you?" Dean said. "That way we have less distance to travel to drop Michael to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and we can be in a warded room in case things don't go exactly as planned."

"Oh," Sam said. "I was thinking with the kids it would be easier for us to come to you. Are they with their dad or—"

"No," Dean interrupted. "No, no dad in the picture. But we would bring the kids with us. The bunker is safer for them during this, and we have Mom there, and she would be able to keep an eye on them for us, to make sure they don't come anywhere close to being in danger."

Hermione turned to look at Dean, her eyes wide. She hadn't even gotten as far in the planning process of this to think about what she would do with the kids while they removed a dangerous angel from Dean's head. And he had already thought it all through.

"Sounds good," Sam answered. "I'm going to go and fill Cas in on the plan, and I need to debrief some of the other hunters. Keep me posted on when you four will be headed my way." Without waiting for a reply, he disconnected the Skype call.

"Dean," she started, unable to get the words to form. "That's—"

"Don't worry about it," Dean said. "I've had a lot of time to think while you've been reading. And it'll be a fun road trip for the kids, don't you think? Driving from here to Kansas? We can stop along the way, see some sites…"

Hermione launched herself at Dean, who barely had enough time to react as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. After hesitating for the briefest of seconds, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her just as tight.

She couldn't control the tears that sprung to her eyes. "You're one of a kind, Dean Winchester," she murmured into his shoulder, her voice heavy with emotion. "You come here, seeking my help for your problem, and rather being a selfish ass about it, you take the time to think of ways to make it easier on my children."

He shrugged. "Like I said, I love your kids, and I want to make sure they're safe. There are rooms inside the bunker we can put the kids, we have lots of extra adults around, more specifically my mom, who would also love your kids, and if Michael gets loose, he won't destroy your house, he'll destroy mine."

Hermione pulled back, placing one of her hands on Dean's face, looking into his eyes. "You're making it damn near impossible to set aside my attraction for you."

Dean smirked at her. "Yeah, well, maybe it's because I don't want us to set aside our attraction for one another anymore."

Hermione looked surprised. "But it was just yesterday when we agreed—"

"I know," Dean said. "I know. And now, I just don't see me being able to do that. I like you, a lot, Hermione. And, it's been a long time, a long, long time, since I've felt anything like this. Usually I distance myself, but I'm not getting any younger, and life just seems to be getting shorter. So I figure, why the hell not."

"Because we both know that once we get Michael out of your head, we'll be going back to our separate lives. And I don't know if my heart or my children's hearts can handle that."

"Who says once we get Michael out we can't see each other anymore?" Dean asked. "My job, if you want to call it that, is insanely mobile and flexible. And we just talked to Sammy on a computer, so we can do that when we can't be together."

Dean was making some very good and convincing arguments, and it was really working on Hermione's resolve.

Dean closed the gap between them, placing a soft kiss on her lips, before pulling back. "So, what do you say? We can take things super slow, and see where this goes. I mean, we have a week of research, and then several days on the road before we even get to the bunker. Let's just let things run a natural course until we get the Kansas, and then we can talk about if things are working."

Hermione found herself nodding. "Okay, that is agreeable. Because, it's been a long time since I felt this way about anyone, as well. And as you can imagine, it's going to be really hard for me to open up and trust again, after Ron. So, I'm going to need you to be patient with me."

Dean smiled down at her. "Glinda, I'm ready to be as patient as you need me to be."

Hermione returned the smile. "I'm glad, because I really want to see where this goes, but slowly."

"We can go as slow as you need to," Dean said, before closing the distance between them, capturing her lips again.

But instead of a soft, quick kiss as the previous one had been, he lingered, and Hermione felt herself responding. She slipped the hand she had on his face to cup the back of his head, and pulling him in a little closer. They increased the pressure of the kiss and intensity of the kiss, and when she felt Dean run his tongue along the seem of her lips, she let him enter. They snogged for a little bit longer, before she pulled back, resting her forehead against his, as they caught their breath.

"Okay," Dean said, softly. "We'll need to do more of that."

Hermione laughed, her heart feeling light for the first time in years, before pulling him back in for another kiss.

SPNHP

"Hugo, we are ready for you!" Dean said, turning to the two year old who was sitting at the table, waiting patiently for his turn.

Dean turned to Rose, who was standing on one of the dining room chairs next to him, and moved her slightly away from him so that Hugo could climb up and stand there.

Since he was staying with Hermione, he volunteered to watch the kids during the day while she worked, to save her money on day care. She was a little leery at first, but after giving it a trial run one day, they had decided it worked out well enough, and he was in charge of the kids ever since. It had been just about a week since they decided to just act on their attraction for one another, and he couldn't be happier.

He wasn't new to the domestic life, having spent that year living with Lisa and Ben, but this felt different. Ben had been older when he came into their lives, and while he loved the kid, the kid never really bonded with him in the fatherly sense. Rose and Hugo, on the other hand, were so much younger, and even in this short amount of time, he could definitely see himself stepping into a defined fatherly role. Filling in the gap, so to speak.

The three of them had started a nightly tradition in the last week of preparing dinner together, making sure to have it ready in time for Hermione to get home. Tonight they were making a lasagna, and they promised Hugo he would be able to put on the last layer of cheese.

After Hugo climbed up the chair, Dean put his arm behind the kids to make sure they were steady and instructed Hugo on how to spread the cheese over the dish. He laughed as Hugo clumped the cheese all in one spot, while Rose got flustered and demanded that he fix it.

He reached over with his free hand to help Hugo spread the cheese evenly, as he heard the fireplace activate from the living room. He smiled. Hermione was home early today. He heard the footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Hey, babe," he called out, "You're home early. We're just about to put dinner in the oven."

"Who the hell are you?" a very male voice, said from behind him.

He whipped around and saw a man, not Hermione, standing behind him, wand drawn. Dean immediately stepped in front of the kids, blocking them from the man, and put his hand on his gun. "I should be asking you that same question."

"Uncle Harry!" the kids cried out, excitedly from behind him. He felt them squeeze out from behind him, and go running toward the dark haired man in front of him.

The man smiled at the kids, and crouched down and accepted the kids into his arms. Dean relaxed and took his hand off the gun.

"Uncle Harry, this is Dean. He's mummy's friend. He lives with us," Rose told the dark haired man.

"Oh, really," the man, Harry said. "How long has mummy's friend been living with you?"

"A long time," Hugo answered.

"We don't have to go to the babysitter anymore," Rose said. "Dean babysits us now. And we make mummy supper!"

"Make lasagna!" Hugo interjected.

The man stood up and narrowed his eyes at Dean, but Dean didn't flinch. He had faced off against worse.

"You have questions, I get it," Dean said. "I would have questions too. Let me put the lasagna in the oven so it can start cooking and then you can ask away. And then feel free to stay and eat, because we made plenty, and we all know these kids aren't going to want to eat it tomorrow for lunch."

"Are you even certain they'll eat it for supper?" Harry asked, still glaring at Dean.

Dean shrugged. "I'm sure they will. I've found since I've had them start helping me cook, the likelihood of them eating dinner has gone significantly up."

Harry relaxed. "You have been here a while," he said. "And if Hermione trusts you enough to have you be in her home, alone with her kids, then I'll be okay with you now. You finish up in here, and I'll take the kids to the living room. I have some catching up to do with my niece and nephew."

Dean just nodded, and watched as Harry led the kids out of the room. He turned back to the counter, and began to feel his nerves creeping up on him. From what he's learned from Hermione since he had been staying with her, Harry was her family. Basically her only family, other than the kids. He needed to make a good impression if he was serious about Hermione.

He put the lasagna in the oven, and cleaned up the prep station. When he was finished, he took a deep breath and then went into the lion's den.

SPNHP

When Hermione stepped out of the floo, she was immediately greeted by the smell of supper, and her heart began to flutter. Dean was spoiling her and the kids, and she didn't know what they were going to do when he went home. She could hear the kids laughing as she made her way from the floo into the living room. She stopped short when she saw Harry sitting on the floor playing with the kids with Dean sitting awkwardly on the couch.

"Harry!" she said, making her presence known. "I wasn't expecting you!"

Harry looked up at her and grinned. "I wanted to surprise you, and imagine my surprise to see that since I've last seen you, you've taken in a stranger into your house. Moody would be disappointed, 'Mione."

She sighed. "Yes, well, to be fair, he and his brother stayed in a motel for the first week, it was just more convenient to move him in here after his brother left," she said. "So I was being vigilant."

"She was," Dean piped in. "She didn't even really want to let us in the door when we knocked. She only did because we knew she was a witch."

"And they knew my name," she added. "Which, I've been meaning to tell you that, Harry. That's the most disturbing thing of all. They said their friend was out looking for people who could perform mind magic, and she stumbled upon someone who knew exactly who I was, and where to find me."

Harry frowned. "How would anyone know that, other than the people you currently work with?" Hermione shrugged, as Harry turned to Dean. "Did she say where she was when she met this person, or anything about him?"

"We didn't think to ask, but I'm sure we can find out," Dean said. She's very forthcoming, especially when it means someone else is in trouble and not her."

Harry nodded. "Please let me know when you do find out, because it's going to bother me until I know more. It could have been she was here, and it is someone you work with. Or someone you work with was on holiday. But the fact that they're just volunteering you up to strangers worries me. Because that means…"

"That means what, Harry?" Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at Harry.

He sighed. "It's what I came here for. Ron knows that you're in the states with the kids. He's been asking around, and people have started volunteering information. He doesn't know exactly where you are, but he's got some pretty good leads. I just wanted to warn you in case you wanted to set up wards, or something, around the house."

Hermione could feel the blood drain from her face. He had found them. Or was at least close to finding them. He was going to take them back. He was going to drug her with that love potion again, and steal them away.

"How close to finding them is he? Because we're getting ready to head out on a little road trip to my place for a bit in Kansas," she could hear Dean saying. "If the, um, procedure is successful, we can stay away even longer. Maybe he'll give up?"

Harry shook his head. "He's not going to give up, at least not until he finds her and the kids. He's been pretty determined to find them the last two years. However, having them not here for a while would help. Go on your trip, have Hermione solve your problem, which I know she will do, brilliantly, and then don't let them come back here alone."

Dean nodded, "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Harry, I don't need—"

"Hermione, I know you're a strong witch, but I don't want Ron to use the kids against you. If someone else is here, then you'll have back up, one can watch the kids, the other can watch Ron. I'm going to put up wards around the house, but it won't be a guarantee he won't be able to eventually break through."

Hermione nodded. "Fine, you're right. Having someone extra here would be a good idea."

"Plus, it means I'll get to spend more time with you and the kids," Dean said, with a smile. "We won't have to say goodbye so soon after you remove Michael."

The thought of having extra time with Dean caused Hermione to smile. "That is definitely a perk."

Harry smiled. "You know, at first I was a bit leery about this arrangement. But now I'm feeling better about it. I was going to suggest that I take a leave from work and stay here for a bit, but now I won't have to."

"I wouldn't have let you do that anyway, Harry," Hermione said. "Ginny wouldn't either. You need to be with your family. I'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll just be, extra vigilant. I have been flooing from here to work, and the kids have been staying here with Dean during the day. We rarely go out into public lately, so there's a slim chance of us being seen and followed home. I think Dean takes the kids to the grocery store, though?"

"Yeah, I do. We walk there, but we can stop doing that, if it'll make everyone feel better. I can wait until Hermione gets home from work and go get the groceries then."

Harry shook his head. "No, you should keep your routines. And I don't think Ron really knows what the kids look like, so if they're out with you, he's not going to make the connection to Hermione. Just be careful who you open the door to."

Dean nodded. "We'll just ignore the door during the day, easy."

"When do you guys leave on your trip?" Harry asked.

"In a couple days, I think I have enough research, and I'm feeling pretty confident I can do the procedure," Hermione answered.

"Floo call me before you leave so I know you're not in the house, and I'll keep an eye on things here, and I'll try to keep an eye on Ron. But we both know that he can make decisions and move quickly when he wants to."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, we both know that really well."

The timer in the kitchen went off, and the children, who had been playing quietly on the floor with their toys began cheering.

"That's dinner," Dean said. "Like I said earlier, we made enough, more than enough really, would you like to stay?"

Harry shook his head, "No, I really should get going, it's late back in London. But please let me know when you're on the move, so that I can stop worrying about you so much."

Hermione smiled, "I will. Give your kids a hug for me."

"I will, and when you're back we'll come through for a visit, the kids miss their cousins."

"I'd like that."

Harry stepped forward and gave Hermione a big hug, and she returned it. "See you soon," he said. "And by the way," he whispered so only she could hear. "I like him, he seems to really care about you and the kids."

"He does. I like him a lot," she said just as quietly. "I'm just worried about when he finally has to go back home, for good."

"I wouldn't," Harry said. "I would put galleons on him choosing to stay with you."

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, really. I've only been here for maybe an hour, but I can already tell that he cares for you and your kids. When I surprised them in the kitchen, he immediately moved to put himself between myself and the kids. No hesitation. That's when I decided I wouldn't send a jinx at him and give him a chance. And I can tell he makes you happy. So, maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I think this is going to last a little longer than this road trip and you fixing him."

"I really hope you're right, Harry. Because I am happy, and so are the kids. I've never seen them this happy and relaxed around someone who is not either you or I."

"Well, just don't shut the door to any possibilities, keep yourself open. See where this goes, yeah?"

"Yeah," Hermione said.

They pulled apart, and Harry moved to the floo. Dean and the kids had moved to the kitchen to finish prepping dinner, which was also part of the routine. Hugo setting out silverware, Rose dutifully carrying each plate to the table after Dean served it up.

After watching Harry leave, Hermione went into the kitchen to join her family for dinner, and try to forget about the danger that was looming out in the future.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have a three hour blood test tomorrow, so if I am feeling motivated and not hangry, I"ll try to pump out another chapter! We're going on a road trip! Please leave a review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this took so long. Everything is crazy, and life is busy, and I'm 7 weeks out from baby, which seems impossible. Just know that even if I take a while, I never abandon a story! Here's the next chapter!**

Dean looked in the rear view mirror of the Impala and smiled at the sight of the sleeping kids in the back seat. They had gotten an early start that morning, and were successful at wearing the kids out at a park at lunch, and now they were able to get both kids to take a nap.

He wasn't used to making stops along the way as he drove from job to job. He was just used to driving straight through, stopping for gas and food. This time they stopped off and spent a few hours in Philadelphia doing the tourist thing, and the kids loved every second of it. They saw the bell, they saw Constitution Hall. Things Dean had only read about, but never actually taken the time to visit. Then they had picked up some sandwiches had lunch at a park with a playground, and now were heading toward their first stop for the night.

"We shouldn't let them sleep too long, or else they are never going to go to sleep tonight," Hermione said.

"Yeah, we'll get them up in a few," Dean said. "Did you get us a room, or do we need to keep our eyes out for a motel once we get to where we're going?"

"I reserved us a room, already. It's one with a room and a separate living space with a fold out couch. I figured we could put the kids on the couch, and we could take the room," Hermione answered, not looking over at Dean.

Dean had to suppress a smile as his heart rate quickened. They had kept to their own rooms at her place. Never taking things past some kissing a little groping since they moved their relationship to the next level. But this, sharing a room, sharing a bed? It made him a little impatient for bedtime.

"Sounds good," Dean answered, trying to keep his voice neutral, but easily feeling excited.

Hermione turned to him and gave him a smile. "Be patient with me," she said. "It's been a while."

"Of course I'll be patient. And I'm assuming we'll need to be quiet so we don't wake the kids."

"Silencing charm," she replied, looking back at the book that sat in her lap, reviewing the charms she would have to cast for the millionth time.

Dean didn't even try to hide his smile as he pressed the accelerator and sped them closer to their destination.

SPNHP

Hermione smiled as Rose jumped off the side of the pool into her waiting arms. It was quite the surprise when they pulled into the hotel and there was a pool waiting for them. Of course the kids wanted to swim, so Hermione ran out and purchased swim wear for the family, Dean saying he already had some trunks in his bag. After supper, the two of them brought the kids outside and divided and conquered. Hermione taking Rose and Dean taking Hugo, and let the kids burn even more energy jumping and splashing around in the pool.

Hermione laughed as Rose made a great splash as she entered the pool, and quickly helped her back to the surface. Rose was laughing as she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, planting a big kiss on her cheek before declaring that she wanted to do that again.

As Rose climbed out of the pool and prepared to jump again, Hermione glanced over and looked at what Dean and Hugo were up to. The two boys were laughing as Dean tried to teach Hugo how to swim. Her son was on his belly, supported by one of Dean's arms and was currently flailing around with both his arms and legs while Dean laughed as he was splashed. Hermione felt her heart flutter. This man was continuously surprising her.

She was pretty sure she was going to fall in love with him. It was basically inevitable, really. But how would long distance work? Would he consider moving to Boston to live with her and the kids? She couldn't ask him to give up hunting. Or even to give up his life for her. Could she and the kids move to Kansas? It would be easy, she could just continue to floo to work, nothing would really change. But from what Dean was telling her they basically lived in a fortress, what kind of life would that be for the kids? What would that mean for them? Did that small town in Kansas have a school?

She shook her head. She was getting ahead of herself. First they needed to get that angel out of his head. Then they could talk about their future. If there was even going to be one. She really didn't know how he felt about her. She knew he cared about the kids, and he said he cared about her. But if they slept together tonight, like she was planning, would he lose interest? Was she some short term fling that he would throw off once they solved his problem and he could move on with his life?

She closed her eyes and forced herself to banish those thoughts from her mind. There was no point in dwelling on these thoughts. She would just enjoy the time that she had with him.

"Mummy, catch me!" Rose squealed as she was finally ready to jump into the pool again.

Hermione opened her eyes and turned her attention back to her daughter, holding her arms our ready to catch her.

SPNHP

Dean sat on the bed in the small room in their hotel, tapping his foot. He couldn't get himself to relax no matter how hard he tried. He should be exhausted, between the sightseeing, the driving and the pool they had had a busy day. However, he was wired. He knew what was going to happen, or at least what Hermione implied was going to happen, and he couldn't help but anticipate it.

It had been a long time since he had hooked up with a woman, a long time. The whole Michael thing really put a damper on picking up random ladies at bars. But this was different. It had been even longer since he had been with a woman he had really cared about. Almost ten years since he had shacked up with Lisa, trying to give domestic life a try. Ten years. And that had blown up in his face and he was forced to have her memories of him erased to keep her safe.

But something told him this would be different with Hermione. She knew about his life as a hunter from the beginning, which was a major difference. And he felt he and Hermione just clicked differently than him and Lisa. Lisa was an ideal that he had held onto for years and then tried to fulfill his need for a family. Hermione was someone who he could be himself with, who knew a lot of his baggage, and still wanted to be with him.

He knew that he would have to move slow with her. She had been hurt pretty badly in the past, and she was sure to have some lasting trust issues. And while he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be an ass, or it wouldn't take work to maintain a relationship with him, he could at least promise he wasn't going to fucking drug her.

He thought over what Harry had said about Ron trying to find her and the kids. He was determined that her ex wouldn't hurt her and the kids again. Even if it meant he moved in with them for a while longer. He was sure Sam would understand. Hell, Sam probably wouldn't even miss him. With the new recruits from the alternate world, and his whole team of hunters he was running, now would be the best time for Dean to just walk away from the life.

He shook his head. He was getting ahead of himself. He didn't know what was going to happen. He didn't know how Hermione felt. He didn't know if she was going to be able to get Michael out of his head. For all he knew his future lay on the bottom of the ocean floor for eternity.

The door to the bedroom opened and Hermione let herself in before closing the door behind her and waving her wand.

"One way silencing charm," she said. "We can hear them, they can't hear us."

Dean smiled, but his stomach was still in knots. Why was he acting like this was something new? Something he had never done before? Probably because it was. He had never "dated" a girl as long as he had Hermione without sleeping with her as soon as possible.

He watched as Hermione moved toward him and the bed, and could tell that she was nervous, too. From what he had read in that book, she had only ever been with her ex. This was all new for her as well. No wonder she was nervous.

She moved so that she was standing between his legs, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled up at her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied, smiling back at him.

He reached his arms out and wrapped them around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She bent her head down, and rested her forehead on his.

"We don't have to do anything if you don't want," he said quietly. "We can just hold each other in bed. That's something we've never done before. Just sleep. I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do."

He must have said something right because the next thing he knew she was closing the gap and capturing his lips with hers. The kiss didn't hold back, and soon their tongues were battling for dominance as Dean ran his hands down Hermione's waist and grabbed her ass, massaging it as he pulled her even closer.

He lifted her up and encouraged her back down onto his lap, her knees bent on either side of his thighs, her heat meeting his hardening cock. He groaned as she pressed against him, and used his hands to encourage her to continue to rub against him, as he pressed up into her. He was still in his swim trunks, and she was in her suit and cover up, the two of them not bothering to change after bringing the kids in and getting the ready for bed. Thus, there weren't many layers between them, and everything felt good.

Dean brought one of his hands up and around her body to the front of her tankini, allowing his hand to rub against the bare skin of her belly, before moving up to pinch her nipple.

Hermione moaned, breaking the kiss, throwing her head back. Dean latched onto her neck, sucking her at the junction of her neck and shoulder. Hermione pressed down harder against him, the sounds coming out of her mouth were tantalizing.

"Dean," she said breathlessly. "I need you inside me, now."

Not wasting any time, he pulled back and lifted Hermione off of him and laid her on the bed. He quickly pulled her bikini bottoms off and shucked his trunks before maneuvering himself between her parted legs. She immediately wrapped her legs around him and pulled him forward, causing him to enter her in one smooth motion.

He had to close his eyes at the feeling. It really had been too long since he had been with a woman, and she just felt too fucking good. He took a deep breath and then began to move.

They moved together, easily finding a rhythm together, and it was not what he would describe as tender. It was hot, it was passionate, it was the culmination of weeks of sexual tension. He brought his face into the crook of her neck, breathing in her unique scent mixed with the chlorine of the pool. She moans quietly into his ear, and that encourages him that he's doing something right. He can feel his finish coming sooner than he would like, so he drew his hand down between their bodies, finding her clit and adding a little extra stimulation, encouraging her to finish with him. Soon, he could feel her tightening around him, as she cries out his name, and then, only then did he let himself go. A few more strokes and he was following her over the cliff, crying out her name.

Breathing hard, he rolled off of her and pulled her to his chest, holding her tightly as they each struggle to get their breathing under control.

"Wow," Hermione said, panting. "That was, that was…sorry, I'm struggling to even form words right now. It's been too long, and I can't remember the last time it was like that."

Dean laughed. "Careful, Glinda, you're going to give me a complex."

Hermione laughed, placing a kiss on his chest, where she rested her head. "I'll try and keep my compliments to a minimum then."

Dean dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "That being said, I am with you. It's been a long time for me, hasn't been much time between apocalypses to let off any steam these days. But I don't remember any of those other times feeling like this. Maybe it's because it's different when there's feelings involved."

He could feel Hermione smile against his chest. "Are you saying you have feelings for me, Dean Winchester?"

Dean swallowed. Expressing his feelings has always been hard, especially given the way that he grew up. But he was determined to break the cycle. Hermione and the kids made him want to be a better person. "Of course, Hermione. I thought I've made that clear. I care about you, and the kids, a lot. And I," he paused and swallowed. "I can see a future with you, and honestly? It scares the shit out of me."

Hermione was quiet for a long time. So long that Dean was beginning to grow nervous. Had he said too much too soon?

"I care about you a lot, too," she said quietly. "And it scares me as well. The last time I let myself fall in love, everything went wrong. I got hurt. Seeing you with my kids, and seeing how much you care about them, and they care about you, makes me feel better about opening myself to the possibility of a future with you. But, how will this work? We live in different states. What if we can't get Michael out of your head?"

"Shh," Dean said, running his hand up her arm. "Let's not get bogged down in what ifs. Let's just enjoy the fact that we are on the same page: we both want something long term, and relish this time we have as a family. Then worry about everything else later."

Hermione tightened her hold on his body, snuggling in deeper. "Yes, let's think about those things later."

Dean smiled as he felt Hermione's breathing even out, and soon, he felt himself drift off as well.

**Please leave a review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I'm back! I had my baby August 16! If you want to see a couple pictures, I'm beatlechickstep on Twitter :) **

**I know it's been forever, but guess what? I wrote NINE chapters on this during NaNo! I'm going to post them weekly until I finish the story and then daily after that! So without further ado, here is the next chapter!**

They pulled the Impala into the garage of the compound and cut the engine. Dean had never taken so long to get from point A to point B before, but he had enjoyed every second of it. Even when the kids had had enough of being in the car and they spent an hour whining before passing out so they could just power through the last part of the drive. Hermione had been frustrated with the kids, but he just took it all in stride. Probably because he wasn't their parent.

The last couple days of the trip had been a dream come true for him. He had been thrilled when Hugo began to prefer that he be the one to take him to the bathroom on one of their million stops so he could go in the one for boys. They always made sure they stopped at a motel with a pool so the kids could swim. They weren't always lucky to find a place with adjoining rooms, but when they could, Hermione and Dean would take advantage of the time alone and explore each other's bodies, getting to know each other intimately.

On one of his check ins with Sam, Dean admitted that part of the reason he was taking so long to get there was he was trying to savor every second of Hermione and the kids since he wasn't confident that they were going to get Michael out of his head, and he was destined for a deep sea nap for the rest of his life. Sam tried to reassure him that they could fix it, but Dean wasn't so optimistic. He was happy. And Fate's rules were Winchesters weren't allowed to be happy. So he was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop so to speak. And he would rather it be him going into the box than for something to happen to Hermione and the kids.

Dean opened the driver's door, and Hermione followed suit with hers. By some miracle both kids were still asleep, and he hoped they would be able to get them inside and to a room without waking them. Dean took Rose and Hermione grabbed Hugo, and Dean led the way into the compound. When they reached the inside of the compound and they stood on the balcony looking down at the situation room, Hermione gasped.

"Pretty cool, right?" Dean said, smiling at her.

"You live in a literal compound," Hermione said. "I just thought that was the nickname you and Sam gave your house. But no. You literally live in a compound."

"We do," Dean said. "Does this change things?" he asked, a little worried. They had had lots of conversations about the future, and he was really selling the compound hard as a place they could all live. Mostly because of all the protections. Also the fact that Hermione's abusive ex didn't know where it was. Plus, Lawrence was a nice small town and had a good school for the kids. Not that he had done some quick internet research about the school ratings near where the men of letters set up their headquarters or anything.

Hermione shook her head. "No, not really. I mean, you haven't even shown me the infamous library yet. I can't make any decisions about living here until you show me the library."

Dean shook his head. "Let's get some rest tonight, and then I'll show you the library tomorrow."

"Before or after we remove Michael?" Hermione asked.

"Before. That way we're both fresh."

He didn't look over at her, but he could tell that she was frowning. They hadn't really talked a lot about removing Michael, and he could tell that she could tell he was procrastinating.

He led the way down the stairs, past the map table and back toward the hallway where the rooms were located. He opened the door to his room. "This is me," he said.

Hermione moved into the room and set Hugo down on the bed. Dean pulled the door shut before leading them across the hall. The room was currently unoccupied and it held two twin beds. He figured this could be the kids' room, but he and Hermione didn't want them to be alone for this first night, so they were splitting up. Hermione set Rose down on a bed, and moved in front of Dean.

"See you in the morning?" she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him with a smile on her face.

"Sleep well," he said smiling down at her before bending forward and placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Oh, I will. I'm not the one sharing a bed with a two year old," she said, laughing.

He shook his head before giving her another kiss before reluctantly moving away from her and leaving her and Rose. He got back to his room and looked around. He looked at the little boy snoring on the bed and gave a small smile. He quickly kicked his shoes off before shutting off the lights and moving to the bed and laying next to Hugo. He was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

SPNHP

Hermione woke with a start, her heart beating rapidly. It had been a while since she had a nightmare, but being in a new place must have triggered something in her brain. She reached for her wand and cast tempus and saw that she hadn't been asleep that long, and it was only four in the morning. She ran her hands down her face and regretted Dean not giving her a quick tour before they retired to bed.

She quietly got out of bed, looking over at Rose and seeing that she was fast asleep. She moved to the door and opened it, and shut it gently behind her and looked down the hall. There had to be a bathroom around here somewhere, right?

She moved in the opposite direction they had come from a few hours before, since she hadn't noticed a bathroom on their way to their rooms. She moved quietly past closed doors until she finally saw the bathroom at the end of the hall. She moved in and quickly did her business, and splashed her face with water, trying to get the image of the nightmare from her brain before heading back toward her room. Except she didn't quite make it. She was maybe a door or two away from her room when she found herself pinned face first into the wall, and she could feel a knife digging into her back.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" the woman's voice said from behind her.

Hermione cursed herself for leaving her wand behind and for not being aware enough of her surroundings to anticipate the attack. "Constant Vigilance" Mad Eye always taught them. How quickly the lessons of war could just leave you.

"I'm Hermione," she said, remaining calm. "Dean brought me."

The woman pinning her to the wall didn't let up. She didn't move a muscle.

"Who?" the woman said. "I've never heard of you. How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Hermione tried to wrack her brain for something, anything, to tell this person so she would believe her that she was who she said she was. "Um, I'm the witch who's going to help get Michael out of Dean's head," she finally settled on.

The woman behind her got quiet, before pressing the knife more firmly into her side. "Witch?" the woman asked. "I don't know anything about a witch who's supposed to be helping Dean."

"Well, I am. I'm sorry Sam or Cas haven't kept you up to date on what is going on, but it is what it is. Can I go back to my room?"

The woman behind her scoffed. "The only place you're going is to the holding room until we can get to the bottom of this."

Hermione sighed. She really wished she hadn't let her wandless magic fall out of practice over the years. She could really use it right about now.

Just as she was trying to figure out what to do to avoid going to the holding room, whatever that was, she heard a bedroom door open behind her.

"Dean!" she heard her son exclaim. "A bad guy has my mummy!"

She heard rustling of bed clothes and shuffling feet as Dean made his way into the hallways.

"Mom?"

SPNHP

Dean wasn't quite awake after hearing Hugo shout for him, but he was pretty sure he was looking at his mom hold his girlfriend at knife point.

"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked walking toward the two women. "Let her go!"

"You know her?" his mom asked, still not letting Hermione up from the wall.

"Yes, this is Hermione. She's here to help get Michael out of my brain. Didn't Sam or Cas tell you?"

Mary shook her head. "No, I just got in earlier today, and I haven't seen either of them. I haven't been back to the bunker for a couple weeks."

"Can you please remove your knife from her side and let her up from the wall?"

"Let my mummy go!" Hugo shouted from next to him before he started crying uncontrollably. Dean bent down and scooped Hugo up into his arms trying to console him. And then the door across the way opened and a sleepy Rose walked out of her room and looked around. When she caught sight of her mom being pinned down by his mom, she just started screaming.

The other doors in the hallways flew open, and Sam and Cas flew out into the hall in various stages of undress, each brandishing a weapon. Sam caught sight of what was happening in the hall, and quickly rushed his way over to Dean and the kids. Dean immediately handed Hugo off to Sam, since Rose would not do well be comforted by an unfamiliar male right now before he fell to his knees in front of Rose.

"Rose, sweetheart, it's okay, it's okay," he repeated, taking her small body into his arms, pulling her close to his own.

"Does she know my daddy?" she cried. "Is my daddy coming here?"

"No, no she doesn't, and no he's not. You're safe here. You're safe."

"Mary," he heard Cas saying. "Let Hermione go. Now. You're scaring her children."

He heard some movement and then he was being pushed out of the way as Hermione got between him and her daughter, scooping her up into her arms. He could see both the girls shaking as they held each other. He moved to put his hand on Hermione's shoulder, but she shrugged him away, and just walked toward her room. He looked at Sam before motioning with his head that he should follow them.

He watched as Sam moved into the kids' room and then came out without Hugo, shutting the door behind the three. Only once he was sure Hermione and the kids were safe he turned and glared at his mom.

"What the hell was that!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know! She was a stranger moving through the halls of our home. I thought she was a threat!"

"Didn't she tell you who she was?" he asked.

"Yes, but when someone tells you they're a witch and they're in your home, you don't exactly let them go. I was going to put her in the holding room until the morning and I could ask you if she was telling the truth. I wasn't going to kill her!" Mary defended.

Dean shook his head.

"Don't look at me like that!" Mary shouted. "Don't. You don't check in with me and tell me what's going on and expect me to know everything. I'm sorry I held the witch at knife point, is that what you want to hear?"

Dean sighed. "No, that's not what I want to hear. I'm sorry for not keeping you posted, things have just been moving quickly on our end. I'm just upset that you probably traumatized the kids."

Mary's shoulders fell, and for the first time she actually, genuinely looked sorry for what had happened. "I didn't know that she had kids. I feel terrible that they had to see that."

"Dean?" Sam asked from behind him. "When you mentioned there was no dad in the picture, you didn't say that he did something to the kids to elicit that sort of reaction from Rose. How bad?"

"Pretty bad. Like run to America and hide bad. And turns out that he just learned where Hermione and the kids are, so that's a big reason why we brought everyone here. Safer." Dean narrowed his eyes at his mom. "Well, at least that was the idea anyway."

Mary sighed. "I'm sorry, I really am." She looked at her boys. "Let me go apologize."

Dean shook his head. "Not right now. Hermione is going to have her hands full calming the kids down. I don't know if they'll be able to handle seeing you right now. You're just going to scare them worse if you go in there right now."

Mary nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I feel terrible, you have to believe me."

Dean just nodded. He kept glancing over at the closed door his family was behind. He desperately wanted to go in there and join them. Make sure the kids were okay.

"Dean?" he heard his mom ask. "Why did her son come out of your room?"

"Hmm?" he asked turning back giving his mom his full attention.

"The boy," she said. "He came from your room. Why is that."

Before he could answer, he heard the door open and he whipped back around to see Hermione come out, leaving the door open a crack behind her. She walked over to him and he immediately wrapped her in a tight embrace. He could feel his shoulder growing damp, which meant that she was crying.

"How are the kids?" he whispered into her hair.

She just shook her head. He cursed under his breath.

"Oh my god," Mary breathed out. "You two are together?"

Dean just nodded his head, not letting go of Hermione.

"Shit, it must be serious if the kid is sleeping in your room." When she was met with silence, she sighed again. "I'm just going to go back to bed. You can tell me more in the morning. I can see when I'm not wanted." She moved back toward her room and shut the door behind her.

Only once his mom was gone did Hermione pull back from him. "She can't watch the kids tomorrow while we do the spell," she said, tears shining in her eyes. "They will be terrified."

Dean nodded. "No, I agree. I just, I don't know what else we're going to do. Who do we need in the room for sure?"

Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Well, the two of us. And from there, I don't know. It's up to you really. Who do you want here?"

Dean looked between Sam and Cas.

"I'll stay with the kids."

Dean snapped his head to look at his brother. "Are you sure?" He thought for certain Sam would want to be in the room with him.

"Yeah, I mean, as much as I want to be there with you, I think at this point the kids are going to want to be with someone they are familiar with. And they at least know who I am. And I think, correct me if I'm wrong, Hermione would be much more comfortable with them being with me."

"He's not wrong," Hermione said. "The kids know you, and I trust you."

Dean nodded. He looked at Cas. "Will you be there?"

Cas didn't hesitate to nod. "Of course, Dean. I'll be there to make sure things don't go bad and that Michael makes it into the box."

The four adults stood in the middle of the hallway for a little bit longer, before Hermione broke the silence.

"If I'm going to rip an archangel from your brain tomorrow, I need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, you're right. We should all get rested up for tomorrow."

The four nodded to each other before heading back to their rooms. Except instead of going to his own room, Dean followed Hermione into the room the kids were in. Hugo and Rose were asleep, each in a bed. Not even hesitating, he walked over to the bed where Hugo lay, and looked down at him. He wanted to crawl into Rose's bed, hell, he wished the beds were bigger so they could all be in the same bed, but he knew Hugo would be the safe choice right now.

But it was as if Hermione had been reading his mind, and she was there with Rose. She placed Rose on the bed next to Hugo before pulling her wand and waving it over the bed. The twin expanded until there was room for all of them. Hermione climbed in next to Rose and Dean next to Hugo.

Once he was settled he looked up and met Hermione's eyes over the kids' heads. What he saw there made him breathe a sigh of relief. Hermione still loved him. His mom didn't ruin anything yet. No, that was for tomorrow. Fate would decide whether he deserved this happiness tomorrow and whether or not they could get Michael out of his head.

He broke his gaze with Hermione and looked down at the kids. Fuck, he never hoped he was wrong more in his life. Didn't he deserve after everything he had been through to have his happy ending with Hermione and the kids?

He brought a hand up and smoothed Hugo's hair down before dropping a kiss on the top of his head before bringing his eyes up to meet Hermione's.

"I love you," he mouthed.

"I love you, too," she mouthed back.

His heart swelled. After that he was able to close his eyes and fall into a restful sleep.

**Please review and let me know what you think! See you next week!**


	9. Chapter 9

**So, I suck at this every week thing. I blame the holidays. Things are slowing WAY down here, no more extra curricular activities for the big kid, and the baby is becoming more independent, so hopefully I can keep up with some semblance of a posting schedule. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

Hermione woke up and noticed that the bed was empty next to her. She tried to determine what time it was, impossible to tell, since she was in a freakin' bunker, and pulled her wand. She cursed. It was nearly one in the afternoon. She jumped out of bed, pulled her hair into a pony tail and exited the room.

It didn't take long for her to figure out where everyone was. She followed the voices back into the large atrium they had entered through the previous night. Sitting at the large map table were her kids, Sam, Dean, Cas and another young man she didn't recognize.

She walked over to the table and smiled at Dean as he made eye contact with her. Last night, as they lay in bed together with her kids, he told her he loved her for the first time. And she said it back. Which surprised the hell out of her. It was too soon to be feeling this way and saying those words, right? They had been together for less than a month. She was never this impulsive, especially when it came to her kids. But for some reason she found herself half a country away from home, with a man whom she apparently loved, and who loved her back. Was she going through some mid-life crisis?

She thought back to the night before and her encounter with Dean and Sam's mom and she felt a little sick. That was not the first impression she had hoped to have with Dean's mom. It definitely put a wrench in her watching the kids while she attempted to rip Michael from Dean's brain. There was no way the kids were going to want to spend any time with her now. Talk about opening old wounds.

She smiled at the sight of her kids with Dean and his family. They were so at ease. She didn't think they would want to leave her side this morning. Not after seeing her that way last night. But there they were. Happily sitting between Dean and Sam, playing a card game.

"Good morning," she said, announcing her presence.

Everyone turned toward her and greeted her with big smiles.

"Mummy!" Rose exclaimed, leaping up from her place and running over to give her a big hug.

"Good morning, love."

"We're playing Go Fish!" Rose said excitedly.

"You are?" Hermione said, smiling down at her daughter. "Who's winning?"

"Hugo," she said. "But I think Uncle Sam is helping him cheat," she said looking over her shoulder giving Sam and Hugo a dirty look.

Hermione looked up and Sam just shrugged. "I plead the fifth."

Hermione shook her head. "You should have woken me."

Dean shook his head. "We felt you would benefit from the extra sleep, especially with what we're planning to do later. You could use the rest and the extra strength. So," Dean said, standing up, grabbing something off of the table and bringing it to her. "Eat up. We saved you some breakfast. It's a little cold, but I figure you can do your little," he waved his hand over the food, and gave her a big grin.

She shook her head. "Thank you." She did pull out her wand and waved it over the food, making it steam again.

Dean bent down and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before putting his arm around Rose and guiding her back toward the table. "Let's let mom eat and go back and try and beat Hugo and Sam, okay?"

Rose nodded enthusiastically and ran back to the table. Dean turned back to her.

"Take your time, Glinda," he said. "When you're done eating we'll show you where the box is, and where we'll be keeping the kids."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Not just for this, but for last night. Just, thank you."

Dean gave her his crooked smile. The one she loved the most. "Of course."

He gave her one more quick kiss and then moved back to his spot next to Rose, picking up his cards. She moved over to join them at the table, taking the empty seat next to Cas.

She smiled at him as she sat down. "Good morning, Cas. It's been a while."

"Good morning," he answered. "This is Jack," he said, gesturing to the young man next to him.

"Hello, Jack."

"Hello," Jack greeted, a wide smile on his face. "I like your kids. They're really nice. I've never met another kid before."

Hermione looked at him, her smile dropping as she tried to figure out what he meant by that statement.

"Jack is the child of a human and an angel. He's a nephilim. When he was born two years ago, he came out looking like, this," Cas explained. "So while he looks like a young man in his twenties, he is, in reality, the same age as your son."

Hermione slowly nodded her head. "You're the same age as Hugo, but you look like you're an adult. How confusing that must be."

Jack just shrugged. "It's getting better. Dean, Sam and Cas have been really good at raising me. They're my dads. Well, my adoptive dads. My real dad is Lucifer."

"Lucifer? Like the Devil? The Devil is your father?"

"Yep!" Jack confirmed enthusiastically. "But don't worry, everyone says I take after my mother."

Hermione just nodded as she took a bite of her breakfast.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Cas said from next to her. "He's really harmless. Enthusiastic, but harmless. He used to be able to do angel type magic, but Lucifer stole his grace a few months ago, so now he's human, just like you. So he truly is harmless."

"Oh, Jack," she said, sympathetically. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Jack said. "I've adjusted pretty well to being human, other than almost dying."

"Jack," Cas warned.

Jack looked chastened, before turning back to Hermione. "Can I stay in the room with Sam and your children when you're doing your spell? Dean said I needed to ask you first."

Hermione smiled. "Sure. I think you would have fun, and it'll give the kids someone else to play with."

Jack gave her the biggest smile that took over his entire face, his eyes lighting up in excitement. You would think that she had told him he won the lottery. And who knew, maybe the prospect of spending time with people his age was like winning the lottery for him. She didn't know, she had never met a nephilim before.

Excitement erupted on the other end of the table.

"I won!" Rose squealed jumping up from her seat.

"Not fair!" Hugo yelled.

"We can play again," Sam reassured the upset little boy.

"Yeah," Dean agreed, as he gathered all the cards together. "We can definitely play again."

"I on Daddy's team now," Hugo declared. "You on Unca Sam's, Rosie."

Silence fell over the adults in the room. Hermione felt her heart constrict in her chest.

"Yeah," Dean said, emotion lacing his voice sounding tight. He coughed. "Yeah, why don't you and Rose switch spots, we'll switch teams this time around, buddy."

Hermione could feel tears in her eyes as she watched her kids switch spots and settle in to play another round. She set her fork down on the table, and stood up. "Will you excuse me?" she said to Cas and Jack before she walked away from the table and moved back down the hallway.

She had barely made it down the hall before she had to stop. She felt her heart contracting in her chest as she she put her back against the wall, and she couldn't hold the sobs in anymore. She slid to the ground, bringing her knees to her chest, burying her face in them.

"Hermione?" she heard a voice from above her. "I just wanted to apologize for last night. I truly am sorry. I'm just overly cautious and protective of my boys, and…" she heard Mary trail off. "Are you okay?"

Hermione brought her head up from her knees and looked at Mary, her face stained with tears, her eyes probably red and puffy. "I can't lose him."

Mary's face fell as she gave the girl a look of sympathy. She moved until she was next to Hermione and sat down next to her.

"You're not going to lose him. I know my son, and he loves you. And those children. I was out there with them earlier. He adores them, and those kids adore him, too. What makes you think you're going to lose him?"

Hermione took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but failing. "If I can't get Michael out of his head, that's it. That's the last shot we have. After this, if I fail, he's going to lock himself in that blasted box and have us drop him to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. And that's it. How do I explain to my kids the man they have started to call Daddy is gone forever, just as they have grown attached to him?"

Mary put her arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her into her body. "You're not going to fail. I talked to Dean this morning, and he's feeling very confident that you know what you're doing. He's not worried, so you shouldn't be either. And if this doesn't work, it is not the last shot. We're Winchesters. We don't give up. We'll just find another way. I will not let Dean lock himself in that box. Not when he has a family who cares about him. I won't let him sacrifice himself and break your heart and destroy those children. I won't."

Hermione turned her head and looked at Mary. She was fierce, and you could really see that she loved her kids. And that when she made a promise, she would keep it.

"Thank you," Hermione said wiping her eyes. "And I forgive you for last night. I understand being vigilant. I was taught when I was younger to always be vigilant. I was actually kicking myself for not being vigilant last night. I've grown too comfortable with my surroundings."

Mary smiled at her. "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, and I am really kicking myself for scaring the kids. I hope to get back in their good graces after this is all over."

Hermione returned her smile. "I'm sure we can get there. Especially once we explain everything to them. My daughter, Rose, has had a rough beginning, but she's pretty easy to forgive."

"I'm glad."

The two women sat in silence in the hallway, listening to the game going on in the atrium.

"I love him," Hermione said, quietly. "I love him, my children are starting to think of him as a father, and we have only known him less than a month. Are we crazy? We're moving too fast, aren't we?"

"It's not too fast when it's right. I fell in love with Sam and Dean's father just as quickly as you and Dean have fallen. When it's right, it's right. And when you're in the line of work we are, you tend to either hold fast to the good, or push it away. And I'm thrilled that Dean has chosen the former. He has been through a lot, and he deserves to be happy. When I married John, I gave up hunting and tried to live a normal life. I think Dean has more than earned his retirement."

Hermione shook her head. "I could never ask him to give up hunting. I know what it's like to be told what to do, to be controlled, I could never do that to him."

"Your ex? The father of your children?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

Mary nodded. "I could tell after your daughter's freak out last night that your previous experience was not a good one. But I want you to know, if Dean chooses to retire from this life, he won't be doing anything he doesn't want to do already. He's been in the life since he was four, essentially. He'll be more than ready to settle down. And now, with the hunters from the other world here, we have consolidated man power, and he can just walk away and live happily ever after. A fate he has more than earned."

"Do you think we'll be able to get Michael out of him and into the box?"

Mary shrugged. "I honestly don't know. But we'll try and if it doesn't work, we'll lock Dean in a room with the kids so he can remember why he shouldn't martyr himself for once, and we'll figure out our next step."

Hermione nodded. "Good, because I just found him, and he's made me the happiest I've been in a long, long time. I'm not ready to give him up."

"You won't need to. I promise."

SPNHP

Jack closed his eyes from where he was standing with his back against the wall. He was just at the entrance to the hallway. He had gotten up to follow Hermione to make sure she was okay. She had gotten up so quickly from the table, he didn't know what to do. He had followed her to make sure she was okay. She was so nice to him, even after learning who he really was. She didn't recoil or anything. And Dean seemed to really care for her. But she seemed genuinely upset when she heard her son call him dad. Did she not want her son to think of Dean as a dad? He didn't know why she wouldn't want Dean to be her kids' dad. He was a great dad.

Once he was in the hallway he overheard her talking to Mary and it all started to make sense. She wasn't upset that her son called Dean dad, she was upset because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to get Michael out of Dean's head and she wouldn't be able to keep him around. That he would sacrifice himself to keep the world safe. Which, he knew Dean, and he would totally do that. Totally sacrifice himself for the greater good.

He thought about how Sam, Dean and Cas had saved him this year. How they had brought him literally back from the dead. He knew he wasn't supposed to use his powers, that using them would burn the rest of his soul. But if push came to shove, he knew his powers were the one thing that could take down Michael. And saving Dean from having to spend the rest of eternity at the bottom of the ocean because Michael was anchored to him was worth sacrificing his soul for, wasn't it?

He heard Mary and Hermione stand up and start making their way back into the atrium, and he quickly moved away from the wall and headed back to the table. He took his seat and watched as Dean helped the little boy in his lap play the card game. He looked so happy. The kids looked happy. And that's when he decided that, yes, this was a cause worth sacrificing his soul for. Absolutely.


	10. Chapter 10

Dean closed the door to the safe room behind him as he left Sam, Jack and the kids behind. He was glad that his brother had volunteered to stay with Hugo and Rose during the spell. As much as he wanted his brother to be in the room with him, there was no one he really trusted more than his brother to be with those kids. He had really tried to push this moment off for as long as possible, but, here he was. Heading toward the room where they kept the box, ready to give this the old college try.

He hoped this would work. Not only did he really not want to spend eternity on the bottom of the ocean, he could feel whatever Hermione had put in place weeks before starting to weaken. So if this didn't work, and they talked him out of the box plan, he didn't think he could hold Michael off. And then it was good bye Dean and good bye world.

He walked into the room to see Hermione and Cas already there, both with grim expressions.

"Who died?" Dean asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Not funny," Hermione said, frowning at him.

"I know, sorry," he said moving to the empty chair in front of Hermione. "So, how's this gonna work?"

"I'm going to enter your mind and make a bee line for the place you have Michael locked up. I'm going to start the spell and once I get near the end, I'm going to fling open the door, and sort of guide Michael into the box."

"I'm going to use my powers to sort of piggy back in with Hermione," Cas continued. "I'll be inside to make sure things are going well. And then once we get to the point of pulling Michael out and putting him in the box, I'll jump out to make sure the box gets closed."

"And closing the box isn't super critical because the idea is to tie him to the box as a whole, but it makes everyone feel better if the box is closed. It's sort of symbolic."

Dean nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"At the beginning, I just need you to try and clear your mind and try and focus on the room where Michael is, just like we did when I put the block in. That will just make it easier for me to get where I need to go. From there, I just need you to try and relax and not push me out. If you push me out too soon, the spell won't be successful, and I don't know what will happen."

"Focus on the bar fridge, relax. I think I can handle that."

"And it'll be sort of painful, and give you a headache. I'll have a headache potion for you after and it should clear it right up."

"Look at you, you little rebel. Breaking all the rules."

Hermione shrugged. "I think that if I went through all the proper channels, what I am doing would be approved. Hands down, no hesitation."

Dean gave her a smile. "So, are we ready to do this?"

Hermione took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder at Cas, who gave her a little nod. "Yes, I think we are."

Dean took a deep breath and settled in the chair, making sure he was in the most comfortable position possible. He rested his hands on his thighs and sat up straight. He squared his shoulders and looked Hermione straight in the eye.

He couldn't quite read the emotions held there, but he knew that she was worried, and that she was going to try her hardest to make this work. He just needed to do what he was supposed to and not fuck it up.

"Alright," he said. "I'm ready."

Hermione raised her wand and whispered, "Legilimens."

SPNHP

Hermione found herself falling through Dean's memories, following a version of him wearing a pageboy cap, until she found herself in an abandoned bar. She looked around and noticed that Cas was next to her.

"He's in here," Cas said, leading the way behind the bar, back into the backroom. They moved past a kitchen and glassware and extra booze until they made their way to a walk in fridge. The perimeter of which was glowing with a white light.

She walked as close to the door as she dared and began reciting the words she had spent the last week memorizing. She knew she wouldn't have anything with her to read off of, and the incantation needed to be said just right. When creating a Horcrux, you needed to kill someone, which severed a piece of your soul. And then you were able to tie that piece of yourself to an object. She had done a lot of research about how to tether that piece of your soul to an object, and she had taken the general idea and found an incantation that should work with it. She just hoped that it would work with an angel. There wasn't anything in any texts she saw about angels.

She could feel Cas hovering behind her. It made her feel a little better that she wasn't in here alone. That she had back up. She may have been considered an elite mind healer, but this was completely out of her wheelhouse. She had never done anything like this before. She usually just used her skills as a type of therapy.

She moved into the part of her spell that involved wand movements, and as she began, the light behind the door began to intensify, and Michael began pounding against the door. He moved against the door so hard that it was beginning to bow toward them. She hesitated for a minute.

"Keep going," Cas said. "It's working, I can tell."

Refocusing, Hermione kept going, moving carefully through each motion. Being careful to pronounce each word correctly. The slightest mis step and that would ruin the whole thing. And at this stage, the results would be devastating.

A couple more wand movements and then she would be entering in the last stages of the spell. She would need to open that door soon in order to grab hold of the archangel in order to tether him to the box. She finished the wand movement, and then reached forward and unlatched the door. She had just placed her hand on the handle when the door flew open, knocking her back.

The door swung open, and inside the fridge stood Dean, but the version of Dean wearing the pageboy hat and suit. He took a step out, and she immediately raised her wand and immobilized him.

"Oh," he said, smirking at her. "A witch. You're new. Usually it's the red headed one." He looked her up and down. "You're much younger. Much prettier. It'll be a shame to kill you."

Hermione closed her eyes, and forced herself to concentrate. She couldn't afford to lose concentration now. This part was critical. She just wasn't expecting Michael to look like Dean. This was unexpected. Slowly she opened her eyes and raised her wand. She looked Michael right in the eyes and began the last part of the incantation. This was the longest part. The part that involved the most magic. The part that was volatile. One wrong move, and it would all be messed up.

Michael started laughing. "They sent a child in to try and get rid of me? Let me tell you, sweetheart, I've destroyed worlds. There's nothing you can do that will even slow me down. Just give up. Let me walk out of here, and I'll even let you live. Dean seems pretty fond of you. I'll keep you around. Warm my bed."

Hermione was proud of herself, she didn't even flinch. She didn't miss one word or one wand movement. She had enough experience during the Horcrux hunt, wearing that necklace, destroying the cup, to know not to let things get into your head. No, Michael's monologue was not what was going to cause her to lose her concentration. That was going to be the world around her starting to move.

Dean was fighting it. He was starting to push her out.

Desperate, she kept trying to keep her focus. To keep reciting the spell. She was so close. But she could feel her grip in Dean's mind slipping.

"Keep going," Cas shouted behind her. "I'll go out and try and get Dean to refocus."

And then he was gone. At least he had figured out what was happening.

Michael laughed. "It seems like Dean doesn't want to get rid of me after all. He likes it when I'm in control. The feel of pure power coursing through his veins. The feeling of killing with your bare hands. The control over others. And let me tell you, you're going to love it when I'm the one driving Dean's body for the rest of eternity. Well, at least for the rest of your mortal life, or however long I allow you to live. It's been a while since I've had a good fuck, and let me tell you," he paused, looking her up and down, "I can tell you'll be a good fuck."

The world around her began to shake in earnest and she began to lose her grip on Dean's mind. She could feel herself start to get pushed out, the air rushed around her, and she felt herself leaving the bar.

"No!" she shouted, fear gripping her. She hadn't finished.

The last thing she heard before the world went black around her was Michael's triumphant laugh.


End file.
